- Date Of Birth: July 25, 1936
- Date Of Death: August 14, 2018
- State: Mississippi
Jerry Dale Patterson, 82, died Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at Baptist Memorial Hospital North MS in Oxford..M….M. until 7:00 P.M.. Survivors include his wife, Joyce Patterson of Oxford, MS and a daughter, Mattie Douglass of Oxford, MS. Mr. Patterson was preceded in death by a daughter, Eva Smith; an infant daughter, Joanna Patterson; an infant son, Jerry Dale Patterson, Jr. and a sister, Jonese Ballard. Born in Cushing, OK, Mr. Patterson graduated from Cushing High School in June 1954, before enrolling in the University of Oklahoma, studying chemical engineering. During his time as a student he was very active in the Baptist Student Union and served as the Chairman of Missions on the Executive Council. During the summer of 1956, he worked in Techappi, California, under the Tentmaker Program of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. During this time, he first felt the call to full-time Christian service. He continued at the University of Oklahoma until he entered the Army in March of 1957. He was enrolled in basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas and attended electronics school at Fort Benning, Georgia. After completing electronics school, he was transferred to Fort Polk, Louisiana in August of 1957 and assigned to an armored reconnaissance battalion in the First Armored Division. His responsibility was to keep the radios working on Jeeps, armored personnel carriers, tanks, and also the hand-held portable units. He served at Fort Polk until his separation from active duty in March 1959. While serving at Fort Polk, Jerry met Joyce Oxley and they were married on June 1, 1958. Together they adopted two children, Mattie and Eva. After serving in the army, Jerry obtained employment at the Boeing Company working on the B-52 at Wichita, Kansas as an electronics inspector. His duties included pre and post-test-flight testing of the electronics equipment, radar, radio, electronic counter measures, fire control, and navigational equipment. While working at Boeing, he attended Wichita State University majoring in Electrical Engineering. After surrendering to the gospel ministry in 1960, he changed his major to history with emphasis on ancient and medieval history. In July of 1963, he transferred to New Orleans with the Boeing Company in order to attend New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. During his employment at Boeing, he was a Quality Program Planner for the manufacturer of the first stage of the S-1C Lunar Rocket which put the man on the moon. Mr. Patterson resigned from the Boeing Company in 1967 in order to devote himself full time to theological studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological seminary, graduating in 1968. Following graduation from seminary, he was called to a church in Jonestown, Mississippi and served various churches in Mississippi as pastor until retirement from the active pastorate in September of 2002. The longest pastorate was of the Temple Heights Baptist Church in Oxford which he served for fifteen years. Although not currently pastoring, he was still active in pulpit supply work.. Patterson’s memory may be made to Primera Mision Bautista, 202 James Street, Batesville, MS 37606.
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