Complete 2012 Journal - 2012 NC Conference Journal

310 The North Carolina Annual Conference – 2012 Journal
and grandchildren Annesley, Elizabeth, John Mark, and Christian Palardy; Malloy, Frances,
and Alice Owen; and Dorothy and Isaac Owen.
Pat’s funeral service was held in Owen Hall at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in
Raleigh on August 15, 2011. Presiding were the Rev. Ben Williams of St. Mark’s and the
Rev. David A. Banks of Pinehurst UMC. Her body is interred next to her dear husband’s at
Cross Creek Cemetery in Fayetteville.
She was neither embittered by her suffering nor afraid of death – for, like Job, she knew that
her Redeemer lives, that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and that in her flesh
she shall see God.
Brooks Patten
1918 – 2011
Brooks Patten was born in Greenville, NC on January 9, 1918.
He departed on November 23, 2011 and resided in Lake
Junaluska, NC. A Memorial Service was held at Long’s Chapel
UMC with Reverends Chuck Wilson, Bruce Pate and Ron
Robinson officiating.
Born in Greenville, NC, he was the son of the Rev. Dr. Walter
and Sarah C. Patten. He was a graduate of the University
of North Carolina (1938) and Duke Divinity School (1942).
Rev. Patten enjoyed a long and varied career of service to his church and his country. He
was assistant field director of the American Red Cross at Pensacola Naval Air Station and
Fort Bennings, GA. During World War II, he served as an Army chaplain with the 5th
Air Corps, headquartered in Japan with the first occupying forces. During the Korean
War, he served as chaplain of the 772nd Military Police Battalion and was instrumental in
establishing the Ai yang Won Orphanage in Taegu, which is still in operation today. He
served 26 years in the US Army Reserves, with six years as an instructor for the Chaplains
School in Durham and retired with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
As a minster in the NC Conference of The United Methodist Church, his pastorates began
in Steadman and Pittsboro followed by being the Wesley Foundation Director at UNC
Chapel Hill. An avid outdoorsman, he assisted the United Methodist Church in acquiring
and developing numerous camping sites in Eastern North Carolina such as Camp Don Lee,
Camp Rockfish, Camp Chestnut Ridge, and Camp Kerr Lake.
Upon his retirement to Lake Junaluska in 1984, he spent five years serving parishes in the
Waynesville area. He was also active in the local community, serving as chairman of the
Junaluskans annual flea market, and participating in numerous construction projects on the
Assembly grounds. He was also an avid woodworker, and enjoyed making walking sticks for
family and friends. A lifelong musician, he enjoyed playing in local community bands, and
founded a men’s choral group at Lake Junaluska. He also enjoyed sailing and photography.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Virginia Nash Patten; sons Read (Cristy), Donald
(Ginny), Robert (Lisa) of Lake Junaluska, and Tom (Katie) of Hendersonville, NC; eight
grandchildren; a brother-in-law Dr. J. Kempton Jones of Chapel Hill; and numerous nieces
and nephews.
An interment service was held graveside at the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery by his nephew the
Rev. Dr. Walter Read Patten on December 27, 2011.