Patricia Ann Becker Ernisse of Lincoln, Nebraska passed away on July 8th, 2024 of natural causes. A strong and independent woman who, after attending Lincoln High School (Class of 1963) and graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the Business School (Class of 1967), she launched her career as the only woman on the advertising and sales team at the Lincoln Journal-Star. Her ensuing 45-year career in restaurant marketing showcased her creative strengths resulting in imaginative events at Runza, Golden Corral, and The Rose and Village Inn. (Remember the Perkins promotion at the Kansas City Zoo in which real elephants ate salads from a bread bowl? She also made sure the Kansas City Chiefs coaches each Tuesday during the season had Perkins while studying film. That was Pat.) She was a pioneer for the Runza food truck and the pumpkin pails so many Lincolnites enjoy today.

Pat proudly raised two equally strong daughters: Jennifer, a national advocate for girls in STEM, and Ashley, a Dallas Stars employee and former Dallas sports producer. Both daughters humored her passion for cooking shows and celebrity news, her penchant for weather rivaling the best Weather Channel meteorologists, and her joyful cooking while telling stories and recipes from her German-Russian background passed from her Mom and Dad. Pat’s friends and family alike marveled at her creative spirit, drive, and resilience. She loved a great margarita and never refused a good challenge or fast car. Pat even sat in the pace car at the Texas Motor Speedway race. She lived to make an impact through her work and her daughters, attending to all with moxie and a smile.

Patricia is preceded in death by her parents, John and Minnie Becker, her best friend, Kathi Krause, as well as her aunt and uncle Phil and Elvina Becker. She is survived by her brother John Becker (Nancy), sister Susan Brunz (Roy), cousin Jean Keister, her daughters Jennifer Stancil (John) and Ashley, and her grandchild, Avery, former husband Jerry Ernisse, and numerous nieces and grand nieces, nephews and grand nephews.

Pat will not have a public memorial service.

Please visit https://memorialsource.com/memorial/patbeckerernisse to share your pictures and memories of her or make a donation in her honor.

As we hinted, Pat was one of a kind. Here are some of things she loved.

Favorite Daily Drink: Cold, Unsweetened Tea, first sun tea and then Gold Peak or a mini Dr. Pepper.

Go to Lipstick: A lifetime’s worth of Black Honey Gloss by Clinique.

Sports Fandom: Her alma mater, the Huskers, and her adopted Dallas Cowboys and Stars.

Nails: Always done

Hair: Fiery Red

It’s a sign: Cardinal

Favorite Holiday: Christmas. Sorry, Halloween. It’s not you, it’s me.

Love/Hate relationship: The Clicker and also you…dastardly internet and ridiculous iPad apps that never open.

Road Trip Necessities: Kathi, sunglasses, a gigantic physical map, and Whitney Houston.

Jot it Down: Notes everywhere on lined 5×7 index cards detailing everything.

Sweet Tooth: Chocolate! ALL.THE.TOOTSIE.ROLLS.

On year round: Hallmark Christmas Movies or reality TV

Key Weather Metric: Barometric Pressure

Drive-Thru realities: While we wouldn’t call it a ratings system, Mom was very keen to tell us – and go out of her way – to where the “good” McDonald’s were.

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Pat loved going fast in cars. We joked she would have been a great ambulance driver. A polished exec, she still had a need for speed – and muscle cars with T-tops. Feel what it was like to have a joy ride with Pat by connecting to Pat’s playlist here on Spotify with gems from Whitney, Tina, Pablo Cruise, Kool and the Gang, and much more. Pat’s Spotify Playlist

 

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Pat’s Places. While Pat was born and raised in Lincoln, she also spent decades in Dallas, Texas with Ashley as well as a few years in Kansas. Here are a few of the places Pat loved to be: The Stadiums (Huskers, Chiefs, Cowboys), at Misty’s for a good prime rib, Braum’s Ice Cream, big family dinners at Lee’s Chicken with all the Aunt’s, Mikki’s for hair and nails, and at a concert at Pershing, Century Link and more, and in front of a “good” reality show. She insisted on going to grocery stores with great meat counters like Leon’s, Ideal, and Fareway and was always up for a Runza, with an ice tea.