Keith Patterson, 89, passed away July 1, 2009, at Cypress Glen West Nursing Home in Port Arthur. Keith was born December 9, 1919 in Center, Texas. He was raised on a farm there and graduated from Center High School. Following military service in the United States Army Air Corps, Keith moved to Beaumont and took a job at Magnolia Oil Refinery, which would later become Mobil Oil Refinery. Keith retired from Mobil in 1975.
Upon moving to Beaumont in 1941, Keith rented a room at Mrs. Edna Della Lyon’s boarding house, which is where he met her daughter, Daisy Louise Lyon. Daisy invited Keith to attend their church, First Assembly of God Church in Beaumont, which would later become Cathedral in the Pines in the 1970s. Keith and Daisy were married by Pastor Green in February of 1946. Although Keith and Daisy had only one child of their own, they adored children and a few that they loved and thought of as their own were: Donald, John, and Harvey Fishero, and Trish Fishero Camp; Ronnie and Doyle Tucker; Will Wyatt; and Jimmie Evans.
Keith and Daisy enjoyed traveling and collecting antique furniture and clocks. Keith remained active in clock collecting nearly all of his life and was a past president of The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. More than anything, Keith and Daisy collected friends. Keith enjoyed visiting with his friends daily on the telephone and in his home more than anything in life. He dearly loved his last church home at First Baptist Church of Nederland. He was blessed with a multitude of priceless friends who remained faithful to the end. Among them are Dick Jones; Johnnie and Mustard Landry; Dale Wright; Doug Fournet; Margaret Duke; Theda and Gerald Nicholas; Sherry and Jim Janczak; Betty Wyatt and Milton Hodges; Moye Burnett; Leroy Evans; Osvaldo Gomez; Jerry Brown; Connie Hooks; and Roy, the world’s best mail carrier.
Keith is survived by his daughter, Rebecca Carroll and her husband David of Nederland; cousins, Elwanda Yorston and her husband Howard of Houston and Walter Lester and his wife Janice of Beaumont; nieces, Quincy Borders and her husband Murray of Center, Tonya Dowden and her husband Derrick of Roby, Texas and Lisa Minnick and her husband Terry of Tampa, Florida; nephews, Howard Johnson of Center, Ronnie Linscomb and his wife Laura of Roby, Texas, Bobby Linscomb of San Jose, California, and Mark Lyon of Moorpark, California.
He was preceded in death by his twin brother, Kenneth; his parents, Eugene and Emma Dallas Patterson; his sisters, Doris Linscomb and Mozelle Miears; and his beloved wife, Daisy.
Funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at Broussard’s, 1605 N. Major Drive, Beaumont, with Dr. David Higgs officiating. Interment will follow at Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont. A gathering of his family and friends will be Monday, July 6, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Broussard’s.
Memorial contributions may be directed to First Baptist Church of Nederland, 1911 Nederland Avenue, Nederland Texas 77627; Odyssey VistaCare Hospice Foundation, 717 North Harwood Street, Suite 1500, Dallas, Texas 75201; or The Humane Society of Southeast Texas, P.O. Box 1628, Beaumont, Texas 77704.
The family would like to thank all of Keith’s physicians, nurses, and former caregivers including, most recently, everyone at Cypress Glen West. We absolutely love you all. Our final expression of gratitude goes to Odyssey Hospice nurses, Cathy, April, Bonnie, and especially Shirley and Rick whose compassion and expertise helped Keith, Becky, and David more than words can say.
