A bright light was extinguished on earth when Patricia “Pat” Endres Wahl passed into her eternal reward on Oct. 15, 2018.

Pat was born July 14 (she loved to remind people that was also Bastille Day) in Mitchell, South Dakota, to Thomas and Louise (nee Swedensky) Schmida. The oldest of nine children, she was a natural leader and caregiver. She attended Notre Dame Catholic High School in Mitchell.

In 1952, she married James Harold Skelly of Mitchell and, in 1960, the couple adopted a son, Thomas. Unfortunately, Jim passed away in 1962. Pat and Tom remained in Mitchell until 1966, when she married V. Joseph Endres and the trio moved to Austin, Texas, where son, Todd, was born in 1967. The family moved back north in 1969 to Austin, Minnesota, where they founded the Gerard Schools, a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed children named after St. Gerard – the patron of motherhood and children. Following Joe’s untimely death in 1975, Pat took over and ran the company for 11 years.

Pat found love again, marrying Dr. Raymond Wahl of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1986. Pat and Ray celebrated their 32nd anniversary on Oct. 11.

She was strong in spirit and faith, ferociously protective of family, generous of heart, colorful, creative, intuitive, wise, endearingly stubborn, and beautiful in appearance and disposition. Everyone who met her was lifted by her positive nature.

Pat was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, James Skelly and Joseph Endres; daughter, Keri Terese Endres; and sister, Sharon (Jim) Murphy. She is survived by her husband, Raymond Wahl; sons, Thomas Endres and Todd Endres; Ray’s children, William (Shelli) Wahl, Elizabeth Chaffin, Stephanie (Greg) McIntire and John (Gretchen) Wahl; siblings, Kae (Jerry) Pugh, Milton (Patricia) Schmida, Beverly Vearrier, Mary Ann Titus, Larry (Susan) Schmida, Robert (Colleen) Schmida and Stephen (Patricia) Schmida; 14 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. Flowers should be sent to Swan-Law Funeral Directors, 501 North Cascade Ave., 80903, or, the family suggests making a donation in Pat’s memory to a charity of your choice.