Elton, Patricia Jean “Pat” (nee Riedberger), age 84, passed away on January 25, 2024, in Apple Valley, MN. She was born on May 19, 1939, to Dit and Grace (Whaley) Riedberger in Moorhead, MN. Pat graduated from Hawley High School in 1957 and from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN with her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in May 1961. She married Milan “Mike” Elton on June 18, 1961. They moved to St. Paul, MN, where she began her career teaching 1st grade in St. Paul Park then Richfield. She helped start the Child Development and Learning Center at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville. When the family moved to Annandale, VA in 1973, she helped start a preschool at Lord of Life Lutheran Church. In 1977, they moved back to Burnsville, where she taught kindergarten at Sky Oaks Elementary until 1994. Pat loved the “little people” and always greeted them wherever she met them. Pat and Mike were charter members of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville and were active in various ministries for nearly 60 years. They loved to travel the world and spend time at their winter home in Gulf Shores, AL, and their cabin in Hawley, MN. She is survived by her husband Mike of nearly 63 years, their son Eric (Terri) and daughter Sarah (Grant) Brown, and three granddaughters (or “ladybugs” as she called them) - Jordan (Barry) Foster, Elizabeth (Connor) Hamilton, Taylor Brown and her fiancé Brooks Walton, and one great-granddaughter, Alice Foster, in addition to many nieces and nephews. Pat is preceded in death by her parents, brother Richard “Dick” Riedberger, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. The Celebration of Life for Pat will be held at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN on Friday, February 2, 2024 at 2 pm, with a visitation one hour before the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church or Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. The family would like to extend a special thank you to Minnesota Hospice and the staff at The Arbor at Orchard Path in Apple Valley.