Hunker man remembered for devotion to children, ingenuity

There pretty much wasn’t anything Paul Patterson wouldn’t do for his children and grandchildren.

Even while working third shift at Robertshaw Controls and driving a school bus during the day, he made time to attend his daughters’ dance recitals and band competitions.

“He was always with us, doing things with us,” said his daughter, Pamela Steiner. “He was such a great dad and grandfather.”

After his daughters were grown, he lavished attention on his grandchildren and on his 4-year-old great-granddaughter. “That was therapeutic for him. He would be teaching her to do something, but it would also help him,” Steiner said.

Paul John Patterson of Hunker died Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, at home. He was 80.

Born in his family home on June 15, 1939, he was a son of the late Kenneth and Helen (Bearty) Patterson. After graduating from Hurst High School, he worked at the Coca-Cola Co. He was the youngest employee hired at Robertshaw Controls, New Stanton.

“He was hired to sweep the floors and empty garbage cans,” Steiner said. “He was very proud of the fact that he was hired at such a young age and worked his way up.”

Mr. Patterson got on-the-job training as a tool and die maker and worked his way up to third-shift supervisor until his retirement about 1988. He also drove a school bus for the Mt. Pleasant Area and Hempfield Area school districts.

Mr. Patterson raised his three daughters to be self-sufficient, to the point of insisting that they know how to change a tire before learning how to drive.

“One time, I was out driving with my sister, and we had a flat tire, so I called him. I was 16 years old and had just started driving. He said, ‘I taught you how to do that,’ ” Steiner said, adding that she did change the tire.

Steiner described her father as the “MacGyver” of the family, always inventing things, fixing things and teaching his children and grandchildren the same skills.

“He was always teaching them to look at things in a different way,” she said.

Mr. Patterson was a big booster of education. Although he didn’t like to fly, he flew to his granddaughter’s college graduation in Denver. Despite being in a wheelchair, he traveled to his grandson’s college graduation in Buckhannon, W.Va.

“He was huge on all of us having an education,” Steiner said.

Mr. Patterson was preceded in death by his wife, Norma Jean (Newill) Patterson; and his brother, Kenneth M. Patterson.

He is survived by his daughters, Pamela Steiner and Dayna Ringer; two grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; and a sister.

Friends will be received from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the C. Richard McCauley Funeral Home, 101 S. Fourth St., Youngwood. Services will be at 1 p.m. Sunday in the funeral home. Interment will follow at the Mount Joy Church of the Brethren Cemetery, Mt Pleasant.