Final Salute

Captain Joe Thomas Patterson, Jr., CEC, USN (Retired) passed away at his Ewa Beach home surrounded by his family on August 18, 2019.

Joe was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Joe T. and Juanita A. Patterson. The family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico when he was 8 years old after his father sold his oil drilling company. Athletics, and baseball in particular, were an important part of his father’s life, and he passed his love for these pursuits down to Joe, who excelled in baseball and basketball at Highland High and at the University of New Mexico. Joe also played semi-pro baseball and was offered a tryout by the Baltimore Orioles. Joe’s father, however, stressed academics, and encouraged Joe to complete the NROTC program at UNM and earn a degree in Civil Engineering. Later Joe would complete a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Another quality that his father passed on was his Puritan work ethic. Joe worked at a task until it was properly finished no matter how long it took. During his 27 years of service with the Navy, Joe served in the Philippines, Korea, Guam, Spain, Italy, Hawaii, Africa, Diego Garcia, Greece and numerous mainland duty stations. Joe was particularly proud of his service as a Seabee, including two tours of duty in Hue and Danang, Vietnam as XO of MCB 8, and several years as CO of NMCB 5 during the Reagan years. Joe earned numerous distinctions during his career including the Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star with a Combat ”V”, a Meritorious Service Ribbon with Gold Star (two awards), a Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V”, a Combat Action Ribbon, and a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Silver Star.

After retiring from the Navy, Joe held senior leadership positions at David Evans and Associates in Silverdale, Washington; J.A. Jones in Charlotte, North Carolina and V.T. Griffin in Hawaii and founded his own company, Patterson and Associates.

A passion he always made time for was organizing youth activities. Joe was a devoted and loving father who spent much of his time coaching numerous basketball and baseball teams as well as umpiring ball games and swim meets in which his sons participated. Joe also found time to hold several positions in the boy scouts and helped with programs in public schools. In addition, he was active in several civic groups as well as professional organizations. Joe loved golf and was fortunate enough to play some of the best courses in the world while traveling for work. His golf claim to fame is that his ball never went in the water on the notorious 17th hole at the Sawgrass Country Club in Florida.

Joe’s wife Patty, sons Captain Joe III, Jack, Jim, daughter-in-law Jub, and grandchildren Joe IV, Aneka, Freyja, Skadi and Captain will miss Joe’s genius for effortlessly solving multiple problems, putting things into perspective, and making every day an adventure. He will also be missed by numerous cousins in his beloved Oklahoma. Joe will be buried the 14th of September in Albuquerque, New Mexico next to his father.

Anyone wishing to honor his memory may do so with a donation to the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association(http://wwwseabee.org) or the University of New Mexico baseball program – Go Lobos! It’s often been said that life is like a baseball game where in the end, it isn’t the score that matters so much as how you play the game…Joe played it well!