Obituary of Robert James Patterson

Robert “Bob” James Patterson, 80, entered into rest peacefully on October 5, 2018. Bob was born in Kansas City, Missouri on May 24, 1938. He grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and moved with his parents and sister to Houston, Texas in 1958. He graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Houston.

Bob was married to Patricia Ann Patterson (Smith) on May 16, 1964 in Houston, she preceded him in death in 2003. Bob worked as a teacher for 36 years and enjoyed teaching history. Bob was known for his love of baseball. He created books with every baseball statistic imaginable and owned an extensive baseball card collection that he handed down to other baseball enthusiast. He worked at the Astrodome for over 30 years with the majority of that time selling souvenirs for the Astros, Oilers and Houston Rodeo.

Bob is survived by his daughter, Karen Patterson Pulido and husband Tony; granddaughters Cailee Patricia and Emery Paige Pulido; son, Jeffrey M. Patterson; sister, Mary Ann Vela and husband Al; sister-in-law, Terry Green and husband Don; and many cousins, nieces, nephews and other loving relatives.

Bob moved from Houston to North Carolina in 2008. He quickly became part of the community where he was known as “Papa” and enjoyed seeing his granddaughters dancing at Faulkner’s, never missing a recital and on Friday nights watching OHS Panther football and his granddaughters cheer. He continued rooting for the U of H Cougars but made sure he watched UNCC 49’ers and NC State Wolfpack as well.

Bob was a dedicated parishioner of St. Thomas More Catholic church in Chapel Hill, NC and was a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus, #10910. He has lasting friendships with many of the men at St. Thomas More and one of his favorite activities was playing bocce ball every Tuesday with the famous Bocce Brothers. He lived at Durham Regent Retirement center serving as an ambassador and loved playing cards and dominoes.

A Remembrance Service was held at 1:30 pm on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at Walker’s Funeral Home of Hillsborough before laying his ashes to rest in Houston beside his wife and parents, Jesse B. and Madeline (Johnson) Patterson.

The family of Bob Patterson wish to thank his many caring friends, St. Thomas More Knights as well as Durham Regent for making his transition to NC filled with love and many memorable times.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Bob's name may be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine, Mission Advancement Office, PO Box 3506, St. Augustine, FL, 32084. http://www.ssjfl.org

The Patterson family is under the care of Walker's Funeral Home of Hillsborough.