Patricia Audrey Hilsabeck

Patricia Audrey Hilsabeck, age 94, of Belle Plaine, passed away August 8 2026, at Kingsway Retirement Living in Belle Plaine. A Memorial service will be held at a later date.

Pat was born in Minneapolis, MN on October 25, 1931, to Reynold and Esther (Bergfalk) Lindberg. She was the youngest, joining her two brothers Ray and Charles. The family later moved to a farm one mile east of Stanchfield, MN. She loved playing with her yellow tiger cat dressing him up in clothes her mother sewed. There was also a rooster who didn’t like her and chased her around the yard whenever she came out of the house. She and her brothers loved playing outside but knew that when they heard the 6:00 train go through Stanchfield it was time to come home for dinner.

In the summer of 1943, the family moved to California and settled in Pasadena. They attended Bether Baptist Church where her uncle Floyd Bergfalk was pastor. In 1949 she graduated from Pasadena Junior College. Graduation service was held at the Rose Bowl, with over 1,000 kids graduating at one time. After her graduation, in 1949, her dad and mother moved back to Minnesota. They lived in Minneapolis again before moving back to the Stanchfield where Pat got a job at the Braham Hospital as a Nurses Aid.

In 1950 she met Howard Swanson and they were married on December 15, 1951, they lived in Minneapolis. On October 25, 1952, their daughter Audrey Louise was born in Minneapolis. In April 1953 the family moved back to California and lived in Pasadena. A son, Richard Charles was born September 24, 1954, at Altadena Hospital. Howard and Pat later divorced.

In the Summer of 1965 Pat and the kids moved back to Minnesota because the smog was getting so bad. We lived in the Braham and Stanchfield areas. They attended Stanchfield Baptist Church where she sang in the choir and was active teaching Sunday School and the GMG (Girls Missionary Guild)

The winter of 1974 she was contacted by an old friend (Bob Hilsabeck) who she met in California in 1947. They went out a couple of times and on January 25, 1975, they were married. They were married for 24 years until Bob passed away from cancer on August 8, 1999. After Bob passed away, she lived in Braham and Cambridge before moving to the Belle Plaine to be closer to her family.

Pat is survived by her children, Audrey Zellman of Cologne, Richard (Pat) Swanson of Sandia Park, New Mexico; grandchildren, Terry (Brenda) Zellman of Cologne and Christopher Zellman of Cologne; great grandchild Travis Zellman of Delano; cousins, many nieces and nephews, and friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents, brothers and sisters-in-law Rey (Hazel) and Charles (Beverly), husbands Howard Swanson and Robert (Bob) Hilsabeck; son-in-law David Zellman and granddaughter-in-law Tanya Zellman.

The family would like to thank the staff at Kingsway Retirement Living and Superior Hospice for their care and love they showed Mom.