Sister Patricia Elder died at Seton Residence in Evansville, Indiana on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. Sister was born on July 27, 1931, in St. Louis, and was one of four children of Joseph and Nathalie (Taylor) Elder. After graduating from St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Missouri, she entered the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis in 1950.
Sister Patricia received a BSN in Nursing from Marillac College in St. Louis, a Nurse-Midwife Certificate from Catholic Maternity Center in 1960, and an MSN in Nursing in 1965 from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Her nursing ministry included Nursing Supervision at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago, St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, St. Vincent Hospital in St. Louis, and St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. Sister was also a member of the Faculty of the Catholic University of Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador and the Faculty of Marillac College in St. Louis.
Sister served in various areas as Staff Nurse, Midwife and Director of Maternity Care at St. Louis City Hospital and as Director of the Graduate Program in Nursing/Midwifery at Saint Louis University School of Nursing. Sister Patricia also was Education Coordinator/Nurse Midwifery at Frontier Nursing School of Midwifery in Hyden, Kentucky, Director of Maternity Care at Brownsville Community Health Center in Brownsville, Texas, and St. Vincent: Daughters of Charity Community Services and Texas Tech Medical School, both in El Paso, Texas. Sister was Community Ambassador and Board Chair at Children’s Medical Foundation in Austin, Texas, before coming to Seton Residence in 2013 to serve in the Ministry of Prayer.
A Wake Service was held on February 20, 2025, in the Seton Residence Chapel and the Mass of Christian Burial took place the following day with interment in St. Joseph Cemetery.
Sister was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Ronald and her sister, Elizabeth Elder. She is survived by her brother, Robert Elder, other loving family members, her Sisters in Community and many friends.