Patricia Lee Buckley Kelcher

Patricia Lee Buckley Kelcher

November 5, 1940 - January 13, 2026

 Patricia Lee Buckley Kelcher, a long-time resident of Dallas, Texas, passed away on January 13, 2026, at Pratt Regional Medical Center in Pratt, Kansas. Born in Dalhart, Texas, to Louie and Euma Lee Buckley (Harrington), she was an only child. She was proud of her Texas heritage, the great-granddaughter of J. B. Pigg, one of the earliest Texas pioneers to settle land in Parker County, Texas.

 She spent early childhood in Dalhart and Wichita Falls during World War II, then spent the rest of her childhood in Sweetwater, Texas, graduating from Newman High School in 1958. She attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, for two years and there met Laurence Bruce Kelcher. They married in Dallas, Texas, on September 3, 1960. He passed away March 10, 2020. They had two children who both survive her: Linda Loomis (Kelcher) (her spouse, Frederick S. “Ted” Loomis, passed away in 2019) Iuka, Kansas; and Brian Kelcher and his spouse, Angela Kelcher (Buckner), Dallas, Texas.

 She is also survived by her grandchildren, Dr. Joseph Loomis and his spouse, Dr. Cara Loomis (Davis), Overland Park, Kansas; Matthew Loomis and his spouse, Dr. Vanessa Loomis (Stelter), Iuka, Kansas; James Kelcher, and Caroline Kelcher, Dallas, Texas. She has three great-grandchildren: Eloise Loomis, Daniel (Danny) Loomis, Overland Park, Kansas; and Theodore (Teddy) Loomis, Iuka, Kansas.

 Patricia was a gifted pianist, playing the organ at Luby’s cafeteria in Lubbock to earn money at college. She became a stay-at-home mom for a few early years in her marriage and later worked as a secretary for various companies until 1983 when she returned to college. Studying at night school to earn her associate degree in Arts and Science from Eastfield Community College, she then continued on to earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Rehabilitation Sciences from the UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, in July 1990. She became a special education teacher until her retirement in 2005.

 She loved quilting, reading, genealogy, going to the Dallas opera, her cats, volunteering at the Dallas Public Library, and visiting her grandkids. She lived near her daughter in Pratt, Kansas, for the last four years of her life, enjoying her time on the championship-winning laundry basketball team at Parkwood Village.

 Patricia was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Laurence “Larry” Kelcher.

 Cremation has taken place. As soon as the Texas bluebonnets are blooming, there will be a graveside service at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at Bethel Cemetery in Parker County, Texas, where her cremains will be buried with her parents and Texan ancestors. 

 Memorials may be made to Sacred Heart Catholic Church or Pratt Public Library.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Galbreaith Pickard Funeral Chapel. https://www.galbreaithpickard.com/