Patricia Ann Ross passed away peacefully Sunday, Sept. 27, at Belmont Village in Chicago. She was 85.

Patty Ann was born in Melrose, Iowa, on March 17, 1941, the daughter of Philip John O’Brien and Margaret Jerome O’Brien (Carmody). She left the farm to study nursing in Des Moines, where she met her husband.

On October 5, 1963, she was united in marriage to Robert “Bob” Ross in Melrose. The couple lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, before moving to Wisconsin, first to Milwaukee and then to Cedarburg in 1970 to raise their family. Patricia worked in the emergency room at St. Michael’s Hospital for most of her career.

Pat lived a gregarious life. Quick to laugh, slow to anger, and prone to song. A neighbor shared that his first memory of Pat was of her singing in her ferocious garden. She loved to garden, and she loved to sing. She was wonderful at one of those things, often quoting the Carpenters’ hit song from 1972: “Don’t worry if it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear, just sing. Sing a song.”

Patty Ann O’Brien, “born on St. Paddy’s Day,” was proud of her Irish heritage and of the green hills of Iowa from whence she came. Though elegantly clad in the most pristine outfits, heroically battled for from the sale bins of T.J. Maxx, she was a farm girl at heart, as evident by the cowbell on her kitchen shelf and her father’s shotgun above the fireplace mantel.

Her long tenure as an emergency room nurse reflected the person she was: always caring for others before herself, while embracing her love of adrenaline and adventure. She explored Europe and participated in the Polar Bear Plunge in Lake Michigan on many a New Year’s Day. She and her best friend once slept in the back of a pickup truck in the middle of the woods on her family farm, not as young women, but in their sixties...until something crashed through the forest and sent them driving back down a pitch-black, muddy trail. It was an adventure she would laugh about for years to come.

And perhaps those who loved her dearly will remember her most for her incredible smile and her laughter: her boisterous, bent-over, weak-kneed, contagious laughter. It was loud, and it was often. It was infectious, and it was an absolute joy to behold.

And that is what is most profound about her passing: the silence.

Pat will be achingly missed by her five grandchildren: Sydney, Quinn and Owen Goergen, and Wynter and Nola Ross, whom she loved deeply. Second only to the love of her family, was her love of cheap yellow mustard and an ice-cold Diet Coke.

In addition to her grandchildren, those left to cherish her memory include her children, Hugh Ross of Los Angeles, California, and Erin Ross-Goergen of Chicago, Illinois. Pat is further survived by nieces and nephews, and many, many dear friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Ross, her parents, Philip and Margaret O’Brien, and her three beloved brothers, John, Bob and Dave O’Brien.

A public Celebration of Life will be held Friday, Oct. 9, at 3 p.m. at Eernisse Funeral Home, 1167 Washington Ave., Cedarburg, WI 53012, followed by a gathering at the family home. All are welcome.

Pat will be laid to rest at Zur Ruhe Cemetery in Cedarburg on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.