Allen D. Patterson
Allen Dewey Patterson of Quogue and Vero Beach, Florida, died on October 2 from pancreatic cancer, just shy of his 85th birthday.
Mr. Patterson was born in Troy to Dr. Robert Alexander Patterson and Edna Sammis Patterson. He graduated from the Phillips Exeter Academy in 1945 and entered Yale in the class of 1950. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as a combat engineer from 1946 to 1947.
He enjoyed a long career in popular advertising and marketing fields in New York. His work involved account management at two major advertising agencies, supervising programs for Proctor & Gamble and Colgate, plus pro bono work for Radio Free Europe. He also served as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company. A change in careers took him to the client side when he became director of advertising and promotion for Atlantic Richfield and later for the Singer Company. He finally joined J.C. Penney as vice president of marketing and business development for their Financial Services Division.
Upon retirement, he moved to Vero Beach as a permanent resident and became actively involved with Habitat for Humanity, starting and directing a community volunteer program in Sea Oaks and serving on Habitat for Humanity’s Board of Advisors. During the summer, he lived in Quogue. As a youngster, his family summered in Wainscott.
He was always a gentleman, polite and courteous to everyone regardless of age, gender or station. Next to being a grandfather, his favorite leisure time was spent on the tennis courts and golf course.
Mr. Patterson is survived by his three children with Barbara Patterson, Robert Alexander Patterson II, John Seymour Teale Patterson and Paula Patterson Prentis; and four grandchildren, Lachlan Teale Spence, Kyla Brynn Spence, Jacqueline Cossette Patterson and Colette Teale Patterson.
His ashes are interred in the Quogue Cemetery. There will be a memorial service in Vero Beach early next year.
Memorial donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity, 4568 North U.S. Highway One, Vero Beach, FL 32967 or to Westhampton Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, 90 Meetinghouse Road, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.
on Oct 15, 2012