Patricia “Pat” Ann Lens
July 3, 1935 ~ October 18, 2019
Patricia “Pat” Lens, 84, Brandon, formerly Valley Springs and Hills, died Friday, October 18, 2019, at the Dougherty Hospice Home in Sioux Falls.
Visitation with family will be 6:30pm, Thursday, October 31, 2019, at Risen Savior Catholic Church in Brandon, with a Rosary Prayer at 7:30pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00am, Friday, November 1, 2019, also at Risen Savior. Inurnment will follow at Holy Name Catholic Cemetery in Rock Rapids.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the American Heart Association.
Pat was born July 3, 1935, in Granite Falls, MN, to Leonard and Grace (Spies) Brandt. She graduated from high school in Rock Rapids, IA. Pat pursued a career in nursing and graduated from Presentation School of Nursing at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls on Friday, August 16, 1957.
On August 20, 1957, Pat married Edward Lens in Rock Rapids. The couple resided in Sioux Falls where Pat was an RN at McKennan Hospital. Ed and Pat bought a farm near Valley Springs where they farmed for the next 35 years. Pat worked for Dr. Hermanson in Valley Springs at his private practice until he retired. She worked for the Good Samaritan Society in Pipestone, MN and at the Tuff Memorial Home in Hills, MN, until her retirement at age 70. In 2013 Pat and Ed moved to Brandon. Pat was an active member of Risen Savior Catholic Church. She participated in a local book club and was involved monthly for lunch with her lifelong friends from nursing school.
Pat was a very loving, caring, and kind woman with a great sense of humor. She loved being a nurse. She had a big heart and enjoyed her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren very much. Pat was an excellent seamstress and loved to bake and cook. She always had glass gallon jar full of home baked cookies when you came to visit. Pat loved meeting people and making new friends. She was always there if you needed her and she even helped deliver a baby at a farm home. Pat and Ed went on many traveling endeavors throughout the US, Europe, and Mexico. They also enjoyed camping with the grandkids.
Pat will be greatly missed by her three children, Michael (Jeanne) Lens, Brandon, Kimberly (Bruce) Pedersen, Dakota Dunes, SD, and Kathleen (Jose) Nunez, Eagan, MN; seven grandchildren, Brock (Jessica) Tim (Christy), Amanda, Tony, Kaitlin, Leslie, and Nicole; four great-grandchildren, Hollis, Parker, Baylor, and Paisley; and her only sibling, Karen Lens, Dakota Dunes, SD; four brothers-in-law’s, Jim (Colleen) Lens, Burlington, IA, John Lens, Carmel, CA, Wayne Lens, Creston, IA, Dave Lens, Grand Junction, CO; two sister-in-law’s, Gerry (Alice) Moeller, and Jane Albers, Rock Rapids, IA; and many lifelong friends.
Pat was preceded in death by her beloved husband of over 60 years, Ed, and her parents, Leonard and Grace (Spies) Brandt.
Goodbye and god bless you. From another “old” classmate of the class of 57 McKennan group.