Patrick "Pat" Gaffaney, 71 of Thief River Falls, MN passed away on his birthday on Sunday, July 11, 2021, at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, ND with his loving family by his side.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 2:00 PM on Friday, July 16, 2021, at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Thief River Falls, MN with Father Rick Lambert presiding. Burial will follow at St. Bernard's Cemetery in Thief River Falls. Visitation will be 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM with a 7:00 PM prayer service on Thursday, July 15, 2021, at St. Bernard's Catholic Church and one hour prior to the service on Friday.

Patrick Gaffaney was born July 11, 1950, in Glenwood, MN the tenth child of thirteen born to James and Elsie (Sellgren) Gaffaney. He was baptized and confirmed into the catholic faith in Glenwood. Pat attended school in Glenwood graduating with the class of 1968. Following high school, Pat moved to North Minneapolis where he worked for Graco as an office assistant.

In 1971 in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada at a Knight's of Columbus International Campers Camporee Pat met the love of his life Elaine Hanson. The couple were married on July 21, 1973, at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Sandstone, MN. They settled in Minneapolis where their son, Jason (1974), Rabecca (1976) and Jeniffer (1977) were born. In February of 1978, the family moved to Thief River Falls, MN where they were blessed with three additional children to complete the family, Theresa (1980), Patricia (1985) and Timothy (1990).

Pat worked on the Soo Line Railroad as an Oiler and advanced to a Conductor. Due to an injury, he was forced to retire after 25 years of service. Pat went on to Northland Community & Technical College in Thief River Falls where he took courses in Small Business Management. During the 1997 floods, Pat used his passion for cooking to feed the volunteers. This experience led him to switch his major to Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management. Pat graduated from the University of Minnesota Crookston with an AAS in February 1999 and BS in December of 2000. In May 2001, Pat graduated from Anoka Hennepin Technical College with a diploma in Culinary Arts. After school was complete, he worked various cooking jobs until opening his own catering business in Thief River Falls which he called Mobo Hobo Catering. In 2006, Pat turned over the catering business to his children, Theresa and Timothy, so he could tend to the needs of his eldest daughter, Becky. Following her death in 2009, he went to work at St. Bernard's Catholic School as the Assistant Cook where he was able to cook for his "kids" for the next ten years. To fill his off time, Pat also worked at Hugo's Grocery Store so he could be in the public and talk with people.

Throughout his life, he enjoyed making people happy through food, catering many events throughout the United States and Canada. Hog roasts were his favorite. Pat was awarded multiple certificates of appreciation for his dedication and volunteerism for his many years with the Boy Scouts, Knights of Columbus and the community in general. He helped to start Pennington County Christmas and for 27 years helped Santa Claus. He also enjoyed working with rosaries, leather, and wood carving. "After three hours of working on this, we decided that we couldn't possibly list all of Dad's services and accomplishments in the community. We just started telling stories and couldn't narrow anything down."

Pat was an active member of St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Thief River Falls, 4 ^th Degree Knights of Columbus and was instrumental in the very successful St. Bernard's Lenten fish frys. He served on the Northern Lights District Council for the Boy Scouts.

Survivors include his loving wife of almost 48 years, Elaine of Thief River Falls; children, Jeniffer (Ken Hoffmann) Gaffaney of Thief River Falls, Theresa Gaffaney of Thief River Falls, Patricia (Tyler) Horgen of Warren, MN, Timothy (Krissy Macken) Gaffaney of Grand Forks, ND; 10 grandchildren, Julie, Bryce, Arianna, Mariah, Kayla, Kenya, Peytyn, Bentley, Kyra, Jaxson; 2 great-grandchildren, Everleigh and Hensley; siblings, Catherine Becker of Arizona, Polly Balko of Minnesota, Donna (Rolland) Belisle of Wisconsin, Peter Gaffaney of Minnesota, Paul Gaffaney of New Mexico; sisters-in-law, Flo Gaffaney, Paula Gaffaney, and Lila (Ted Carsten) Gaffaney; brother-in-law, Vernon Bentfield; and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

He is preceded in death by his son, Jason in infancy; daughter, Rabecca; parents; siblings, Robert Gaffaney, Thomas Gaffaney, Michael Gaffaney, Elizabeth "Betty" (Roy) Mott, Mary (Art) Zenzen, Janet Belisle, and Ellen Bentfield; brothers-in-law, Norbert Becker, Dave Balko, and Donald Eddy; and sister-in-law, Wanda Gaffaney.