PATTON, John Dewey

HINES – John Dewey Patton, 79, formerly of John Day, died Aug. 17 at home, after a five-month battle with cancer. A funeral was held on Aug. 23 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Mr. Patton was born Sept. 16, 1934, in Myrtle Point, to John J. and Maxine (Collins) Patton. A fifth-generation Oregonian, he lived most of his life in Oregon. He was young when he began working in the woods with his father, who always said his son had truck wheels rolling in his head. He worked in the John Day Valley for a time, during which he partnered with Skip Powell. He worked for various other employers until a log rolled off a truck and crushed his leg. The injury gave him a staph infection, so, needing to find a new occupation, he attended Columbia Basin College to earn a degree in auto mechanics. He worked in the Baker City maintenance department, but not being an indoor person and still with truck wheels in his head, he returned to the logging industry. In 1967, he bought an International truck, “Belinda,” with which he did log hauling jobs in the John Day Valley before going to work for H&H Logging in Burns. In 1969, he met his future wife, Doris, and on April 4, 1970, they married, bringing to the union his two sons, and her four children. They formed their own company, John Patton Logging, which they ran until they retired in 2002. He received a citation from the State of Oregon Forestry Department following one particular landowner job he did. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and traveling. His trips included: hunting in Oregon and Idaho with sons Jeff and Joe; fishing and hunting in Alaska with son David and family; Hawaii with son Larry and his wife; fishing and hunting with son John and family on the Columbia River; and trips to Nevada and Alaska with his wife and daughter Donna. The highlight of a three-week vacation to Italy and Austria was witnessing the ordination of Pope Francis. He had an uncanny knack for finding things on trips: a ladies Timex watch near a snow bank in Yellowstone Park, a police two-way radio on a Hines street, a box of toys on a desert road off Highway 20, and a working Oreck vacuum in the Ochoco Forest. He was a member of several organizations, president of the Grant-Harney chapter of the Oregon Forest Product Transportation Association, and was named Timberman of the Year at the Harney County Chamber banquet. He had a sense of humor that stayed with him even through his last days. Survivors include his wife, Doris, brother, Jim (Rhea); sister, Janice Jones: children, Jeff (Denise), Joe, Donna, Larry, John (Pat), David (Runae); 14 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; nieces, Kristie and Lenore; nephew, Hank; and many friends. He was preceded in death by a newborn daughter; and grandsons, Joe Jr. and Johnathan Mallars. Memorial contributions may be made to Harney County Home Health and Hospice or the Ronald McDonald House of Central Oregon through La Follette’s Chapel, P.O. Box 488, 332 W. Monroe, Burns, OR 97738. bluemountaineagle.com 16 Sept 2014