Gary A. "General" Patten's Obituary
Gary A Patten (83) passed away peacefully on June 23, 2021 at Sharehaven-Memory Care in Oshkosh. Gary was born Sept. 9, 1937 in Rockford, Illinois and moved to Oshkosh from the Richford/Wautoma area in the early 1940s. He grew up on the south side of Oshkosh, attending Jefferson and South Park schools and was confirmed at First English Lutheran Church. He received an Associate Degree from UW-Oshkosh under the GI bill. Gary joined the USAF in April 1955-1959 and worked in the pressure chamber at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, NM. He had a good time in New Mexico playing baseball, drinking and singing. When he returned to Oshkosh he married Carole Schauer at Sacred Heart Church in 1959 and they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at South Park in 2019. He then resumed his sporting activities…playing baseball and softball for numerous Oshkosh teams, including Harrison Bar, Park Ave Bar, Pinky’s, Hogues, Tommy’s Angels, Tigers Den and Sunday Morning Social League. He also bowled at the Rec, Shoreview, and Rev’s.
Gary is survived by and his memory will be cherished by his wife, Carole; children, Scott (Sue), Greg (Kris), Christopher, Stacey (Bob) Bougie and Linda (John)O’Connell). Also survived by 10 grandchildren; Eric, Jeff, Barry and Nathan Patten, Bethany Wright, Elisabeth Schulz, Max, Tierney and Tiffany Bougie and Mallory Miller, four great-grandchildren, Maggie, Jules, Coco Schulz and Ty Bougie, one sister Judy (Don) Seibold, two sisters-in-law Liz (Loyal) Christian, Jean (Ron) Michels, and one brother-in-law Bill Schauer, plus many nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by parents Ray and Alice (Raatz) Patten and many aunts and uncles.
Gary worked at Morgans, and Kimberly-Clark and retired from UW-Oshkosh (head of custodial services-academic buildings), and moved to his retirement home across from Pleasant Lake in Waushara County. He spent some good years there working for the Westfield School District mowing grass and in winter delivering groceries to the schools. Best times were had sitting around the campfire listening to the St. Louis Cardinals ball games, drinking fire-brewed Strohs, and entertaining the grandkids. He hosted fish fries on Memorial and Labor Days (fish supplied by Uncle Beefer and friend Terry Wesner) for many years combining with the Raatz family reunion and the more that came, the merrier. He also enjoyed attending the Coloma Chicken Chew every June and playing in the horseshoe tournament. Gary moved back to Oshkosh in May 2012 and he joined the horseshoe league at South Park and also enjoyed riding his bike all over the southside, meeting his friends at the stone bridge in South Park. He was usually the life of the party and enjoyed listening to country music, singing along with the songs, knowing all the words. He especially liked George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today"and Cal Smith, “It’s Time to Play the Fiddler.”
Funeral services for Gary will be held on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 4 pm in the Poklasny Funeral Home, 870 W. South Park Ave. in Oshkosh. A time of visitation will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday from 2 pm until the time of service. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be established in his name.
The family would like to give thanks to everyone at Sharehaven who cared for Gary, especially Mary and Rebecca. They made life easier for us.
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