Patricia Maureen Jones Sells Elsner was born on May 29, 1962, in San Diego, California, to Robert Dee Jones and Jane Marie (nee Reeves). After her parent’s divorce, her mother remarried to Gary Sells, and their family grew to include six children: Randy, Robbi, Tracy, Patty, Jeanne, and Kari. The Sells family moved around the country during Patty’s childhood, eventually settling in Houston. Patty and sister Tracy moved out of their parents house when she was 15, and she met her future husband, Ted Elsner, the following year. Patty was proud to graduate from Spring Branch High School on time, and married Ted a month after her graduation in 1980. The self-described “best thing she ever did” was have her four beloved children, Melissa, Rachel, Ted, and Traci, and she devoted herself to them. Patty was delighted to reunite with her father, Bob, in 1987, and to welcome two more sisters in her life, Jen and Bobbi. She started her own daycare company, and later worked as an office manager for Kroger and for a law office. She “retired” in 2006 to care for her beloved granddaughters, Rebekka and, later, Natalie.
Patty loved to cook, and especially for her family to enjoy her cooking; her rolls and kolaches were legendary. She was a cruciverbalist and an avid reader, and taught all her children to love reading. Patty was a gifted writer and was working on an autobiography. She enjoyed sewing, quilting, and scrapbooking. After her retirement, she discovered a passion for travel, especially Caribbean cruises with her husband, sisters, and best friend Ana Garcia LeVrier. At her best, Patty was an unfailingly kind and generous person - the type of person who takes in a sister and children in need, sponsors an impoverished Honduran child, sews dresses for little girls in Ethiopia, and lovingly mothers every child in her life. Most of all, she loved being with her family, and included hundreds in that definition of family, whether related or chosen. Despite her multiple illnesses and personal struggles, she was loved and will be missed by many.
She is predeceased by her grandmother, Mabel Ellen “Mana” Wooliscroft Reeves, her father Robert Dee Jones, and her “brother” William “Keith” Hataway. She is survived by her husband, Theodore Edward “Ted” Elsner, her daughter Melissa Beth, son-in-law Brent Edward, and granddaughters Rebekka Ellen and Natalie Marie Strickland; her daughter Rachel Marie, son-in-law Patrick Oliver, and granddaughter Abigail Delight Harrison; her son Theodore Lee Elsner; her daughter Traci Dee and son-in-law Travis Austin Buttram; all of her “crazy sisters” and their families, a multitude of siblings-in-law and their families, and many dear friends. She loved us all, and we loved her and hope she is now at peace.
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