Patricia "Patsy" Mallard Ellmer

Patricia “Patsy” Mallard Ellmer, 91, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, in Houston, Texas.

Patricia was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Albert “Buster” and Evelyn (McShane) Mallard. After graduating from Sacred Heart in 1950 and St. Mary’s Dominican College in 1954, she began a teaching career that spanned close to fifty years. One day, the father of one of her Nativity BVM second graders, an airman who was stationed at Keesler, told her about a young man he wanted her to meet. A dinner date was arranged, and Patricia married Paul J. Ellmer in 1956. Life as an Air Force wife took her to bases in Alaska, Ohio, California, and Florida during Paul’s 20-year military career before moving back to the Mississippi Coast and settling in Ocean Springs.

After returning to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Patricia taught again at Nativity BVM before working at St. Alphonsus in Ocean Springs, Sacred Heart in North Biloxi, and Resurrection in Pascagoula. She loved her students and enjoyed the thrill of teaching the children and then the grandchildren of former students. Another passion was her music. Taught to play the piano at the age of three by her beloved Mamere, Patricia played for her first wedding at age thirteen. She served as church organist for several Catholic churches, including St. Alphonsus, St. Elizabeth Seton, Keesler’s Chapel, Fatima, and Our Mother of Sorrows. In addition, she’s played for countless weddings, funerals, and musical programs up and down the Coast.

Patricia was an infinitely patient and loving teacher, wife, mother, and grandmother. She had an infectious smile and a zest for life that inspired anyone lucky enough to encounter her. Her faith was unwavering, and she truly embodied Jesus’s teachings through her words and actions. The positive impact of her selfless devotion to family, friends, and, most importantly to her, strangers, will last for generations.

Patricia is preceded in death by her parents; her brother, George; her husband, Paul; and her son, Albert.

She is survived by her daughters, Evelyn (Tom) Snow of Houston, Texas and Beth Ellmer of Metairie, Louisiana; and three grandchildren, Paul, Benjamin, and Hannah Snow.

The family would like to thank The Cottage of Spring Branch and Crossroads Hospice for their compassionate care of Patricia.

 In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Lord Is My Help Food Kitchen, www.thelordismyhelp.org

A visitation will be held from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, Ocean Springs. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 am on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Ocean Springs. Burial will follow at Biloxi City Cemetery.