“Fly high, my friend”: Pat Elmore laid to rest in the community she served so well

GREENFIELD — A local legend was laid to rest under sunny blue skies Friday afternoon in Greenfield.

Patricia “Pat” Elmore — Greenfield’s first and only female mayor — was known as a loving community servant who treated all she met with kindness.

Elmore served two terms as Hancock County Clerk starting in 1968 followed by five terms as Greenfield Clerk-Treasurer, then one term as mayor starting in 1996.

She spent her golden years continuing to attend city events before passing away July 3 at the age of 87.

“She always had a smile on her face. I can never remember Pat without a smile,” said longtime friend Bev Gard, a former Indiana senator who was among the speakers at Elmore’s funeral Friday at Greenfield Christian Church, where Elmore was a longtime member.

Friends, grandchildren and great-grandchildren took turns sharing their best memories of Elmore, who they said loved her family with the same passion with which she served her community.

After the funeral, Greenfield city employees lined the sidewalks at State and Main streets in downtown Greenfield to pay their respects as the funeral procession passed by — led by a firetruck with lights swirling.

Buzz Krohn said Elmore was well-deserving of such a sendoff.

“She’s just probably one of the best people you could ever come across — very thoughtful, caring, giving. I can’t say enough nice things about her,” said Krohn, who had known Elmore for over 40 years and was chosen to speak at her funeral.

The two became fast friends after Elmore helped bring Krohn on as a municipal advisor to the city nearly 40 years ago.

“She was just a wonderful person. She just always knew right from wrong, good from bad, in every context — from how she managed her affairs with her city and with her life. She was a great counselor to me and a lot of other city employees over the years,” Krohn said. “She treated everybody like they were important and that they were a part of her extended family.”

Gard had similar things to say about her longtime friend, whom she knew for nearly 50 years.

“She’s just one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met,” said Gard, who said Elmore was a tremendous civil servant and friend.

“When she was in office as clerk-treasurer she was very protective of the taxpayers’ money. When a department head would come in and want to spend money in a way that wasn’t appropriated, she always was pretty tough on that, but she did so with a smile on her face,” she said.

One thing that impressed Gard the most was Elmore’s lifelong dedication to the city, where she would continue to attend ribbon cuttings and election returns even after her health and mobility declined.

“You would still see her out everywhere,” said Gard, who laughed when she shared that making her way around town with Elmore would sometimes be problematic.

“When I went someplace with Pat around Hancock County we had a hard time getting to where we were going because everybody wanted to talk to her, and she would always stop and talk to them. It was pretty slow going wherever we went,” she said.

Gard thinks it’s fitting that the building which houses the Greenfield Parks offices and Greenfield Senior Center was named after Elmore.

“She really spent a lot of time doing good things for senior citizens and people in nursing homes, and she visited them regularly, so I think it’s just so fitting that it is named after her,” she said.

“She was a wonderful friend and very much a mentor to me, and I’m going to miss her terribly. I’m sure a lot of people are,” said Gard, who closed out her eulogy with a simple message for Elmore: “Fly high, my friend.”