W. J. PATTON

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W. J. PATTON March 18, 1917 - February 16, 2007 William John Patton. It is with great sadness we announce the sudden passing of Bill Patton on February 16, 2007 at the age of 89 years. Bill will be remembered with love by his sons Andrew and Matthew, his sisters Marion, Peggy and Blanche, as well as his many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. He was predeceased by his youngest son Jay, a bush pilot, whose plane went down in Northern Ontario. Born in Winnipeg, Bill was always at the top of his class scholastically. But perhaps even more important, he learned to play the piano at a young age and music remained his great life long passion. He graduated from Linwood Collegiate and in early adulthood taught in Kenville, Roblin and Flin Flon, prospected in northern Saskatchewan, and worked in Churchill. He studied Engineering at the University of Manitoba and soon married Donna Cruikshank. With his wife and three young sons, he lived and worked in Edmonton, Missouri and Saskatoon. Resettling in Winnipeg he taught Engineering at the U. of M. for several years. He then became the Head of Mechanical Engineering at the Manitoba Institute of Technology, what is now Red River Community College. He greatly enjoyed his many students there. From 1961 to 1983 he wrote a series of text books covering a number of different aspects of Mechanical Engineering, all for his American publishers Prentice Hall. He had an endless curiosity. After receiving his piano degree from the London (England) School of Music, in the course of his lifetime he also taught himself classical guitar, Russian, Spanish, and horsemanship, when, after his retirement, he had a small horse farm at which he stabled horses for many years. He studied Buddhism, the history and culture of Tibet, Russian history, and the history of the American Civil War. He explored the northern Civil War battlefields with his sons on his countless trips to his beloved state of Virginia. He was also a member of the Winnipeg Film Group and continued to create screenplays, novels, and essays right to his very last day. A remembrance of Bill's life will be held on Monday, February 26 at 4:00 p.m. at Neil Bardal Funeral Home, 984 Portage Ave.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 24, 2007