George Dobbin Penniman Patterson

George Dobbin Penniman Patterson of Oxford, MD died on Thursday, July 22, 2004 at Chesapeake Woods Center, Cambridge. He was 79. Born in Baltimore, MD on January 28, 1925, he was the son of the late G. Sterling and Harriet Wilson DuShane Penniman Patterson. He was educated in the Baltimore public school system at Baltimore City College. In 1943, at age eighteen, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and was sent to flight training school, earning his wings in November 1944. He flew C-46’s out of Austin, Texas for the Troop Carrier Command and continued his military career as a member of the 29th Division Maryland National Guard Aviation Section for the next twenty years. Upon his release from military duty, he studied wildlife management at the University of Minnesota, where he met and married the former Marjorie Manley of Ft. Benton, Montana. The marriage ended in divorce. After working with the Maryland Game and Inland Fish Commission, Mr. Patterson sold heavy construction equipment for Chesapeake Supply in Baltimore, later buying the company with two partners. When the company subsequently dissolved he spent the rest of his working life selling construction equipment and supervising road-building projects. In 1965, he married the former Mary Eleanor Ditch of Baltimore. They owned a farm in North Baltimore County where Mr. Patterson was at his happiest, living close to the land with horses, dogs, and raising beef cattle. His early childhood on the North Shore of Long Island left him with an equal passion for boats and the water. Moving to Oxford in 1977, and inspired by the clean lines of Chesapeake Bay workboats, he became a backyard boat builder of considerable skill. He also began woodcarving, creating animals and people in the primitive tradition of 19th century folk art. A member of The Church of The Holy Trinity in Oxford, he served on the building committee, as an usher and on the vestry as junior warden. He was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association and the Studio Tuesday Art Group, where he took some ribbing as the last surviving male member. In addition to his wife, Mr. Patterson is survived by a son, Roger McIntyre Patterson and his wife Joan of Weston, FL; two brothers, G. Sterling Patterson, Jr. of Baltimore, and DuShane Patterson of Bethlehem, PA; and one granddaughter, Samantha Mariel Patterson of Weston, FL. A daughter, Marjorie Penniman Patterson died in 1996 and a sister, Harriet Buchanan died in 2001. Memorial services will be held at The Church of The Holy Trinity, Oxford, MD on Saturday, August 7, 2004 at 11:00 AM. Arrangements are by Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., Easton, MD.