Patricia (Patti) Smith was born June 8, 1969, in Two Harbors, Minnesota to Robert and Betty (Fallgren) Rohlfing.

She passed away on September 10, 2026, after a courageous battle with cancer.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 18, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at Nelson-Doran Funeral Home, Brainerd. A visitation will be held on Thursday evening from 5-7:00 p.m. and for one hour prior to the service on Friday.

Patti moved with her family to Brainerd in 1972 and attended school in Brainerd. She spent her early adulthood as a mother and worked in various industries to help support her family.

As her children grew older, she pursued her dream of working in the health care field. Patti attended MN School of Business to be a Medical Assistant. She moved to Sioux Falls to work at Sanford Hospital. While working there, she found that she wanted to work with patients more directly and went on to get a Bachelor of Science Nursing degree from Augustana University in Sioux Falls in 2017. Patti continued working at Sandford while earning her degree and afterwards. It was in Sioux Falls that she met and married her husband, Rex Smith.

They eventually moved to Brainerd to be closer to her grandchild. Patti worked at Essentia-St. Joseph’s Medical Center and most recently at St. Croix Hospice, where she found her true calling in hospice nursing.

Patti is survived by her husband, Rex Smith; children, Frankie Pace, Lilly Pace and Jacob (Morgan) Pace; grandchildren, Toby and Emery; mother, Betty Rohlfing; siblings, Rose and Eric; mother-in-law, Mary Lou Smith; Margret Hall; aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, and many bonus children in her children’s friends. She was preceded in death by her father; Aunt Judy, Uncle Martin, Uncle Craig; and her grandparents.

Memorials are preferred to Fanconi Cancer Foundation and a local dog shelter of your choosing.