March 7, 1927 – April 16, 2024
Patricia Catherine Miller was born in Dupree on March 7, 1927, the fourth child of Frank Edward “Pat” and Hazel (Huddleston) Miller.
Patty passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at Avera Mary House in Pierre on April 16, 2024 after a long battle with dementia.
Services for Patty will be held at the UCC Church in Eagle Butte on Monday, June 24 at 11 a.m. with lunch following the service. Services will be livestreamed on the Kesling Funeral Home Facebook page.
Patty spent her childhood with her parents on a ranch six miles west of Ridgeview. She went to grade school at the Hagel School and in Ridgeview. Patty attended high school in Eagle Butte, graduating in 1946. She attended summer school one summer in Spearfish and then taught school one year at the Simon School. After one year of teaching, she knew that being a teacher wasn’t the career for her.
Patty always had a large garden and did lots of canning to get her family through the winter months. Patty and her neighbor, Doris Downing, had two large garden areas a couple of years and raised tomatoes by the bushel. They made lots of tomato sauce, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, ketchup, tomato juice, salsa and canned tomatoes. Bynum Downing and Les Petersen nick named them “Gurney” and “Burpee” after the seed catalogs.
Patty baked her own bread for years. One day she figured up the number of loaves of bread that she had baked over the years and it totaled somewhere around 19,000 and that did not include the buns. The UCC church knew her for the pies she baked. She always brought 7 or 8 pies to the Harvest Festival and they would be auctioned off. They always brought in $1000 or more for the church.
Patty was a 4-H leader for many years and was a member of the Parade Extension Club.
Patty cooked for the Ridgeview Grade School Hot Lunch Program for a couple of years.
Patty and Les had three children, Ginger (and the late Ted) Fenwick of Fort Pierre, James (and the late Donna Rae) Petersen of Ridgeview and Jon Todd (Charlie Porter) Petersen of Palm Desert, CA.
Patty is survived by her three children: Ginger Fenwick, James Petersen, and Jon Todd Petersen; five grandchildren: Leslee (Jeremy) Zeiler of Spring Creek, NV, Trisha (Sonny) Togonon of San Diego, CA, Michael Todd (Jenessa) Petersen of Ridgeview, Luke (Dreemis) Petersen and Molly (Dakota) Longbrake of Dupree; 20 great-grandchildren; one sister, Grace Mulloy of Orcutt, CA; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Patty is preceded in death by her husband, Leslie; her parents, Pat and Hazel Miller; brother, Buck Miller; sisters Bethel Tibbs and Jean McClure; one sister-in-law, Bonnie Miller; one daughter-in-law, Donna Rae Petersen; one son-in-law, Ted Fenwick.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Avera Mary House, Pierre.