Tough as Nails

Pat Patterson moved to Reynolds with the railroad. I have forgotten all the positions he had over the years while with the railroad but I do know he managed the depot in Reynolds and worked for the railroad all his life until he retired.



The Patterson family lived right up the street from me when I was a kid. My brother and I played with Billy and Cal up and down the streets of Reynolds as we were growing up. We have been lifelong friends.

Janet, Pat’s wife and their mom, has always been a special friend to me. She and my mom were friends for years.

I remember being sad when the Patterson’s moved away. They really didn’t move that far. Only two streets over.

They moved in a new house next to the ball diamond. It actually worked out really good to have somewhere to go when it started raining when we were playing ball but it was tough for me when they moved.

Pat Patterson passed away last year. The Pattersons asked me to speak at his funeral service. I was honored to do it and it caused me to stop and think about some pretty important stuff.

Pat (I called him Mr. Pat by the way) was a tough guy. He was strong as an ox and never had a bit of trouble telling you what he thought about whatever subject that happened to be on the table.

He never backed down from anybody. I remember he was umpiring a church softball game one night and one of the leaders in a particular church got mad at a call he made at second base and temporarily lost his Christianity. He got in Mr. Pat’s face to express his displeasure.

I thought Mr. Pat was going to tear him apart. That church leader got in the wrong man’s face. He almost lost his church membership permanently because I thought Mr. Pat was going to tear his head off.

As a kid I saw all that but I also saw another side to this tough man.

He was my little league coach. And at a very important time of my life he made me feel like I was the best ballplayer east of Mississippi. I remember he bragged on me to others when I didn’t think he knew I could hear. As I got older I realized he knew I could hear all along.

He was motivating me to make me better.

Not only in baseball.

But also in life.

And he was very good at doing that.

I smiled years later when I was standing with him watching his grandson, Brad, play high school ball. Brad was playing first base and a pop fly was hit in the infield. As Brad was looking up and reaching up to catch the ball, the runner ran him over. It was a cheap shot while Brad was defenseless and I thought Mr. Pat was going to go through the fence. He was ready to whip the boy and his parents and grandparents.

I smiled because he was still tough as they come. And he still would not back down from anybody even as a senior adult. He was mad as rip and I was afraid he would have a heart attack that day.

But the neat thing to me was that he just loved his grandson and he wanted to protect him. He knew the rules of baseball and it was a cheap shot. Billy and Cal had to calm him down that day.

But I left that game reminded of my appreciation for him and thankful for the impact he had in my life for so many years.

Somehow in the big scheme of things God just puts people in your life for the purpose of helping you become whoever He wants you to become.

I have no doubt that Pat Patterson was one of those people

The truth is he probably never knew the impact he had on me.

I did get to tell his family and all the friends who gathered for that funeral that day. But I never told him.

And I wish I had.

He was tough as nails.

But he had a heart of gold.