Elaine "Aunt Pat" (Dittbrender) Kottke, age 91, passed away peacefully at Towner Crest Assisted Living in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin on January 30, 2023. Elaine Marion (Dittbrender) Kottke, was born May 21, 1931 in Ringle, Wisconsin, to the late Gordon and Louise (Richter) Dittbrender. She was married to the late Richard Kottke for thirty-eight years.

She worked for thirty-seven years managing photography studios throughout the western U.S., beginning in California and ending her career in Denver, Colorado. Through her career, she enjoyed acquaintances with Nancy and Ronald Reagan, as well as the casts of Bonanza and The High Chaparral.

She enjoyed a forty-five-year friendship with the late Jean Miller in Fresno, California. They liked to travel, including three trips to Europe. She loved animals, especially her two white German shepherds, Shadow I and Shadow II. Elaine's passion was her home which she built with her husband, in Fresno. She loved fresh fruit from the trees in her yard including lemons, oranges, grapefruit and especially her peach tree. Her well-cared-for yard was full of flowers and always looked like a park.

Elaine was preceded in death by her parents, husband Richard and friend Jean; her three siblings and in-laws: Dorothy (David) Lucht of Antigo, Ruth (Charles) Carter of Oak Creek, Wis., and Gordon (Lucille) of Wausau, Wis.

She is survived by nieces and nephews: Gail (Terry) Kolpack, Bill (Nancy) Lucht, and Dan (Becky) Lucht, all of Antigo; Sandra (Bruce) Imhoff of Oconomowoc, Nancy Carter of Atlanta, GA, Patricia (Dan) Nesbit of Gillette, Wyoming and Chuck (Kim) Carter of Reedsburg, WI. She is further survived by several great-nieces and nephews as well as great-great nieces and nephews.

A private family service will be held in Appleton, Wisconsin, where Elaine will be laid to rest with her husband, Richard.

The family would like to thank the staff at Towner Crest Assisted Living of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, for their loving and compassionate care of Elaine. The cousins would like to thank Sandra Imhoff and her daughter, Lisa Harshbarger, for their dedicated, tender and loving attention to Aunt Pat.