Lasting Memories

Garry Patterson
June 16, 1934-May 30, 2014
Redlands, California

An irreplaceable good husband, brother, father and grandfather, Williams Garrick Patterson, "Garry," died Friday, May 30, 2014, at Kaiser Fontana Medical Center after a brave struggle with acute leukemia. He was a couple of weeks short of 80 years old. Garry was a good, faithful, generous man and cared about his whole family. He always did the right thing, and everything he did, he did well. He was a fine athlete; in his youth he was an outstanding swimmer, and he played golf for many years. He was also an accomplished skier, both cross country and downhill. But his greatest joy was going fishing. He loved fishing near the family Colorado home, and he also made several trips to Alaska and Norway.

Garry grew up in Redlands and graduated from Redlands High School. He went to Stanford University where he obtained bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering, and there was nothing he could not fix. He spent three years in the Air Force at Big Springs, Texas, and he was promoted to captain before being honorably discharged. Garry lived in Palo Alto for 45 years, where he raised his family, before moving to Redlands to take over the family citrus ranch.

He was the second son of Edmund D. Patterson and Lillian Marshall. In his younger years, he spent many summers in Hawaii with his mother's family. He was married to his wife Gunhild for 50 years, they have three children and four grandchildren.

Angler's Prayer: God grant that I may fish until my dying day And when at last I have come to rest, I'll then most humbly pray When in His landing net I'm safely asleep That in His mercy I'll be judged as good enough to keep