William C. Patton

William C Patton, age 88, of Lindstrom, MN died at Fairview University Hospital on October 30, 2013.

Bill was born March 26, 1925 to Thomas and Kate Patton in Aitkin, MN. He lived in Aitkin with his one brother and seven sisters. At age 13 he left home on his bicycle and worked on various farms in the area. The period before he enlisted into the Navy he worked as a mechanic helper at Lawrence Auto Body Repair. He signed up for the Navy on February 15, 1943 and entered into active duty on March 12, 1943 where he served his country until December 20, 1945. During that time he also enjoyed being a Golden Glove boxer.

After he was discharged from the Navy, he worked various jobs until he settled on becoming a tuckpointer doing structural restoration until he retired. He joined Bricklayers Union #1 in 1954. Next year he would have been awarded his 60 year pin. One day his sister, Vivian, introduced him to Inga Hansen and told him, "This is the girl you are going to marry". They were married on February 8, 1947, and raised six children that have given them 21 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren. Bill had various hobbies one of which was creative remodeling of their homes. When he had their home the way he wanted it...it was time to move and start over. He liked to garden raising vegetables and then canning tons of tomatoes and pickles. Everyone got tomatoes and pickles for Christmas.

He liked to cook and his specialty was soup... delicious vegetable beef! He loved to play cards and was very good at it. He also liked horseshoes and bean bags. He was also an artist. He painted many pictures that were given as gifts. He was also into leather work...he was in the process of making wallets at the time of his death. His true passion was his lawn. He had several mowers, one for mowing, one for mulching, one for edging, etc. The lawn was always PERFECT. No one could do the job for him and if for some reason you did, it certainly would not have passed his inspection. He took great pride in his yard which included the driveway. He never let snow build up on it. In the middle of a snowstorm he would be out there shoveling and he didn't want anyone's help. Bill was a soft hearted gentle man and he will be greatly missed.

Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Inga; his parents, Thomas and Kate Patton, one brother and seven sisters; son in law, David Peterson and infant granddaughter, Tanya Rae. Survived by son, Tom Patton and daughters; Karen (Dean) Rogers, Barbara (Tim) Freeman, Lynn Peterson, Debbie (Steve) Schminkey and Kathi (Lloyd Livesay) Olson; 21 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Funeral service was held at Grandstrand Funeral Home, in Lindstrom, October 5, 2013.