Pat Patterson

(From Derfelt Funeral Home)

On Saturday, December 21st, 2019, around 4:30 p.m., Roy C. "Pat" Patterson, Jr., lay down on his bed to take a nap, and woke up in the streets of Heaven.

Pat was born on October 7, 1948, to Pollyanna and Roy C. Patterson, Sr., in Oklahoma City, OK. He graduated from Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City in 1967. After graduation, Pat went to work at Tinker Air Force Base in the packing and shipping department. He retired from TAFB after 24 years of service.

In 1993, Pat moved to Riverton, KS, to be closer to family. Pat volunteered at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, MO, as a floor walker, delivering gifts to patient rooms, from 1994 until 2016. Pat also volunteered at Riverton USD 404 School District as an office aide from 1994 until he fell ill in the late spring of 2019. Pat visited and attended several churches in the area, including Grace Community (Riverton Friends) Church in Riverton and First Baptist Church in Galena, KS.

Pat knew no strangers. Everyone, including fans from as far away as Humboldt and Neodesha, KS, knew of Pat as "Riverton's #1 Fan." He attended every high school home sporting event--often leading the football team out onto the field--, read books to elementary students, was known for riding his three-wheeled bicycle around Riverton, and was famous for wearing a sombrero on "hat day" during Homecoming Week. Pat had a mind like a steel trap, remembering everyone, and rarely left a conversation without reminding his friends he would pray for them.

Pat is preceded in death by his parents, Pollyanna and Roy C. Patterson, Sr.

He is survived by first cousins Cloise, Galena, KS, Debra, Baxter Springs, KS, and Alice, Sharon, and Janice of Texas, as well as several 2nd and 3rd cousins.

There will be a visitation on Friday, December the 27th at Derfelt’s Funeral Home in Galena, KS from 6:00 pm to 8 pm. The funeral will be held at Grace Community Church in Riverton, KS at 2:00 pm on Saturday, December the 28th. Pastor Aaron Polok will officiate. A grave side service will be held in Oklahoma City on Monday December the 30th.