Patty Hafer passed away early Tuesday morning, August 20, 2019 surrounded by her loving family.

Born to John and Louise Kelly on September 30, 1935 in Lead, South Dakota, Patty's family moved to Butte in the early 1940's where her father worked in the mines.

Patty's family lived on Gaylord Street and then moved to a ground floor apartment in a six-plex located at 540 E Mercury, across the street from the Belmont Mine on Butte's East Side. Older sisters Betty and Shirley provided much love and care to Patty and younger brothers Johnny and Jimmy throughout their childhood.

She was educated at Sacred Heart Elementary and Butte High School, graduating in 1953. During highschool, Patty was a twirler in Butte High's Band and Majorette Corps under the direction of Henry and Jean Schiesser. Patty loved Butte and had fond memories of her highschool girlfriends and her walking down from the East Side and Parrot Flat to Clark's Park, where they worked selling popcorn, peanuts and pop at Butte's Copper League ball games. Patty was fortunate to have strong friendships with many of her school day pals throughout her life.

After highschool, Patty worked in the directory department at the Mountain States Telephone Company located in the Thornton Building. All three of the Kelly sisters, Betty, Shirley and Patty, worked for the telephone company at the same time for a short period.

Patty married her high school sweethart, Carl Hafer, on July 14, 1956 in Sacred Heart Catholic Church. This year, they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary. Patty and Carl raised five children, Kelly, Tym, Jayme, Jeff and Chis, and together they made a good life and lived the "American Dream'' about six miles south of Butte on some acreage.

Patty was a loving wife and mother, and a full-time homemaker until her youngest son Chris was in grade school. Patty was then employed by Butte School District No. 1 as the first librarian at Margaret Leary School where she worked for 17 years untill retiring in 1994.

Patty was a member of Butte's tennis community for over 20 years and in 1997 was part of the women's doubles team, Montana Aces, that advanced to the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) League Tennis Intermountain Senior Sectional Championships in Boise Idaho. She loved playing doubles and the independence and confidence playing the game gave her.

Throuhout Patty's life, she was a big sports fan and loved going to Butte Central and Butte High football and basketball games. For many years, Friday night in the Hafer household typically meant she would be leaving early to pick up her sister, Betty, and off they would go to watch the game, cheer on the teams, talk, and visit with friends. Watching sporting events on TV in her later years filled much of her time and she liked to root for the underdog.

Patty was a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church and the Red Hat Society group, Butte-E-Babes. She enjoyed all the social events the group organized and attended. Throughout Patty's life, she was a friendly person and went out of her way to say hi and talk a few minutes if she saw you around town.

Patty is preceded in death by her parents, beloved sisters and brother, Betty Uggetti, Shirley Darragh and John David Kelly, and brother-in-law Chuck Uggetti.

She is survived by her brother Jim Kelly and his wife Sally, brother-in-law George (Dunk) Darragh, sister-in-law Joann Hafer of Cottonwood, AZ, sister-in-law Gere Speer and her husband Steve of Polson, loving husband Carl Hafer, daughter Kelly Kincaid of San Diego, CA, daughter Tym Hafer Frear, daughter Jayme Carlson and her husband Martin of Helena, son Jeff Hafer, son Chris Hafer and his wife Torri, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Patty is also survived by her loving grandchildren: Nikki Bostick and her husband James and their son Henry (Patty's first great-grandchild) of San Diego, CA, Bill Kincaid Jr. of Spokane, WA, Sophia Frear of Topeka, KS, Eric Carlson of Oregon City, OR, Garrett Carlson of Bozeman, Cody Hafer of Helena, Kaylee Hafer of Missoula, Kaiden Hafer of Butte, Shealyn Hafer of Butte, and Sheridan Hafer of Butte.

Our family would like to thank Compassus Hospice Care including Dr. Tavenna, nurses Dorothy and Kelly, and aid Karen for their loving care. A special thank you to caregiver Espe Carpenter for helping our family take care of our mom.

A visitation will begin at TIME on DAY at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 4201 Continental Drive, Butte MT. Funeral mass will be celebrated at TIME a.m.

Memorials may be made to Our Lady of the Rockies, Butte Food Bank or a memorial of the donor's choice.