James Patrick Patterson

Hi folks, my name is James Patrick Patterson, and I died just the other day, November 12, 2023. I was 88 years old. It was a good life, no complaints.

My mother brought me into this world on the 17th day of March 1935, St. Patrick’s Day. She and dad said they had no choice but to name me James Patrick Patterson, especially as my dad’s folks come over on the boat from Ireland. I was born in Mom and Dad’s bedroom in a little house on River Street in Wild Rose, Wisconsin just down the hill from the tavern and bowling alley, second house on the left. However, it has since been burned down by a fire bug. Dr. Fisher was the doctor, a sort of country doctor, if you please, who did the best that he could with whatever ailed the folks of their little town.

My Dad said that as I was being born he was on the front porch having a smoke, you know, the roll your own type. Walter Raleigh paper around some Bull Durham tobacco then lick the paper, then roll everything together, twist the ends so that the tobacco doesn’t fall out and then lighter ‘er up. It was an art.

I had two brothers and one sister, all dead now. They were quite a bit older than me. Also, a sister who died at birth. Wayne was the oldest, then Norman, and then Patsy. They were all good to me even though Patsy always said I was spoiled, but Norman always said she was the one that was spoiled.

Mary Helen Lauritzen and I were married on December 20th back in 1958. We were both school teachers at the time and it was a quick Christmas school break. The honeymoon was a road trip that ended in Muskogee, Oklahoma (“where we don’t smoke marijuana”--check out Merle Haggard’s song Okie from Muskogee). A two night stop and visit with a friend then a quick run for home arriving back on Christmas Eve. The only negative regarding the honeymoon was changing a flat tire on the way home in the middle of the night in Illinois.

Mary and I have three children. Jean Eichhorst, husband Bruce, and their three children Connor, Phoebe (Jared Marr), and Ciara. James Daniel Patterson and his wife Jennifer have two children, Henry James and Paige. Susan Kay Osland has one child, Ivan James. We had a daughter Patti, who was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 13. Everyone is good looking and smart!

I loved playing outside with other kids as we fished on the Mill Pond, rode our bikes all over, and played all kinds of outdoor games that kids of today don’t even know about much less play.

I like hunting a lot. In the beginning it was with my dad. My brother Norman, who was in the US Air Force, left me his .22 rifle, a nice step up from my Daisy BB gun. As I grew older and could get a license to hunt, I was solo.

I and many of the boys in town got into archery. As the years passed my passion was hunting deer with a bow and arrow, big time. I got good enough that I killed many deer with my bow and arrow. The freezer always had some venison in it. As I said, hunting was my passion.

I never wanted to go to school and I am not sure I went to kindergarten, but my friends tell me I did. So it went, right on through high school, then college at the University of Stevens Point becoming a teacher and an athletic coach in Amherst, Wisconsin. My boys on the Cross Country team won the Class C Cross Country Championship back in October of 1959. They were really proud of themselves, as well they should have been.

I became a teacher in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin school system. I was then fortunate to receive a scholarship to attend graduate school at the University of Wyoming and received a Master’s Degree in guidance and counseling, spending my last years as a counselor at Oshkosh North High School. I retired in the spring of 1993.

My wife Mary and I loved to travel the West. Twenty-five times to Yellowstone National Park. We would travel and camp anywhere from Canada to Mexico with our children Jean, Patti, Jim Dan, and Susan. The summer found us on the road with our tent and cooking gear. As the children left the nest, Mary and I continued to travel the US. Mary and I spent 17 winters in Bella Vista, Arkansas. Lots of golf and nice temperatures. We also spent 9 winters in Florida after Arkansas. Much warmer, no golf for me here, but Mary and I enjoyed the beaches and visiting many Florida State Parks.

I hope you all have a good time at the “Good-bye, Jim Pat Party.” Maybe a few comments from my kids and maybe some others, then have at it along with some good music from back in the day!

                                                                                                                                       -Jim Pat Patterson

Visitation and luncheon Friday, November 24, 2023 from 10am to 1:30pm. Konrad-Behlman West Funeral Home, 100 Lake Pointe Drive, Oshkosh, WI 54904. No flowers, please. Contributes may be made to a charity of your choice.