BUHL Patricia “Pat” Pate Elliott, age 61, of Buhl, died Oct. 19, 2012. Memorial services will be 6:30 p.m. tonight, Oct. 23, 2012, at Sipsey Valley High School Gymnasium with Rev. Leonard Hill and Rev. Tim Eads officiating and Skelton Funeral Home of Reform directing. Visitation will be immediately following the service at Sipsey Valley High School.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. John Searcy Pate and Elizabeth Smalley Pate, and a sister, Nancy Pate Lang.

Survivors include her daughters, Tonya Lewis of Echola, Ala. and Ray Lewis of Buhl, Ala., and Amy Brown and husband Chad of Holman, Ala.; her son, John Elliott and wife Amy of Gordo, Ala.; her sisters, Loretta Sullivan of Holman, Ala. and Donna Hamilton of Gordo, Ala.; her grandchildren, Gavin, Garret, and Grant Lewis, and Gage, Lauren, Katelyn, and John Elliott; two special “grandchildren”, Elizabeth and Andrew Hamilton; her nephews, Lee Garrett (Michelle) and Allen Lang (Nicole); her niece, Alicia Lang; and a host of other relatives.

Pat was born November 30, 1950, to the late Rev. John Searcy and Elizabeth Smalley Pate. She was a 1969 graduate of Gordo High School and a 1986 graduate of the University of Alabama School of Nursing. Pat devoted her entire life to taking care of others. She was a registered nurse and was employed at Salem Nursing & Rehab Center of Reform as Director of Nursing. The majority of her nursing career was in geriatrics, and she had a true passion for caring for the elderly. Pat gave her heart and soul to her patients and took her position far beyond just a job. Away from work, she always made time for her family and wanted to spend every spare moment with them, especially when it came to her grandchildren. She would go above and beyond to make it to every game or school program and was highly involved in each of their lives.

Honorary pallbearers are employees, residents, and their families of Salem Nursing & Rehab Center; employees of Alta Care Corporation; Mrs. Linda Dill; Dr. Lee Richardson; Kevin and Kim Austin; Randy Elliott; Roger “Bubba” Bunn; Sam and Gypsy Strickland; members of the Flatwoods and Kirk communities; and the faculty, staff, parents, and student body of Sipsey Valley High School.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Sipsey Valley Middle or High School or Salem Nursing & Rehab Patient Fund.