Commemorating Arthur Albert Patton, ‘Everyone’s Father’
[On 7/20/20, which would have been Art’s 93rd birthday]

NE Woodland to SW Desert

Arthur Albert Patton (Art) was born to Nellie B. Baird and Arthur A. Patton (Arthur) in Lancaster, NH, which was the closest city with a hospital, near his hometown of Groveton, NH. Art was the oldest of three children, with a brother, Albert (Bud) and a sister, Jean. The family later moved to a house built by Arthur in Northumberland, NH, where Art attended school in a neighboring town.

Typical of the period and area, Art’s childhood days were filled with fishing, hunting, ice-skating, skiing, biking, and endless exploration in the woods behind his house. Arthur’s musical passion led to teaching his eldest 11-year old son how to play piano and accordion chords. Art would then accompany his father’s fiddling at kitchen junkets (kitchen furniture pushed aside to make room for dancing). The toe tapping tunes signaled a fun time of dancing and laughter for gathered family and friends…a much-needed reprieve from the long work week.

Like any teenager, Art wanted to earn spending money. He worked loading box cars at the paper mill and on farms throughout the region. For three summers, he bunked at and was a hired hand on nearby farms: Linden, VT (ran a doodle-bug plow-Buick converted to a plow), Lancaster, NH (Woody with Russian wife), and Guildhall, VT (Hayes farm). Art chased and milked cows, tossed hay, cleaned barns, plowed fields, and performed other farmhand chores. His daily rate ranged from .50¢ - $1.00. When Art had saved enough money, he bought himself a new pair of pants, jacket, and tie so he could look slick at the Groveton Granger dances that were attended with his cousin, Elizabeth. Art would catch the train with Elizabeth to spend the night at her family’s Guildhall home on Friday nights. On Saturday, Art’s family came to town and gave him a ride home. At an early age, he already knew how to make things happen and to have fun.

When Arthur was laid off at the paper mill as a paper beater engineer, he moved his family to Gouverneur, NY, to run a conveyor belt at the lead mine. Art, at the age of 15, found a job cleaning up at a Ford garage. Following his introduction to the automobile world, he moved on to the Dodge plant, learning how to tear apart and put together engines.

At 17, Art left school and got parental permission to join the Merchant Marines. He served on multiple naval ships from 1944-46, transporting military equipment, goods, and foreign/U.S. troops. People moving included German POW’s imprisoned in Kentucky, being transported back to Germany after WWII. This also included runs from the NY eastern coastline through the Panama Canal to domestic U.S. (CA, WA), international Pacific islands (Hawaii, Japan, Philippines) and European (England, France, Germany) ports throughout the world. His extensive travels only came to light in 2010 when we toured the international houses on display at Balboa Park, CA. Art identified many ports, where he had docked, on the maps posted in the country represented huts. Art talked about his naval experiences while touring the USS Midway in San Diego and after visiting Walter Reed, his brother-in-law, at the VA Hospital in St. George, UT. During these times, Art was moved to share his mariner stories.

With money banked from Art’s merchant marine service, he returned to Gouverneur, where he purchased and managed a gas station for two years. During this time, he married his high school sweetheart, Kathleen Lenahan. Following the sale of the gas station, the couple moved their trailer to the property where he loaded and drove an oil truck. When the family grew with toddlers, Bruce and Neil, Art and Kathleen moved into one of two apartments his parents rented within their home. The young family later moved to Canton, NY, where Art found work in a body shop. A job welding opportunity at Jones and Laughlin Steel Mine soon brought them back to Gouverneur. Shortly after purchasing their first house, there was yet another layoff. Art then commuted back to Canton, returning to the body shop. The body shop’s owner soon expanded his business to the Oldsmobile dealership in Potsdam, a few miles from Canton. Art always followed the best opportunity; thus, his daily commute became Gouverneur to Potsdam.

Art worked at the Oldsmobile dealership until 1962, then joined his sister, Jean, and brother, Bud, in Las Vegas, NV. Bud got him a job painting trailers at Las Vegas Transfer & Storage. After several months of sending money home to Kathleen, it was decided to move the family of four children out West. After arranging a return job of painting trucks at Clark County Wholesale, Art went back to Gouverneur to sell the house and hold a big auction. Furniture basics were sent ahead via Allied Movers. On a simmering summer day, Art and Kathleen, with their children Bruce, Neil, Paul and Donna, packed up their custom remodeled 1956 Oldsmobile Super 88 and small pull trailer with the trip necessities. They made the relocation a vacation adventure, exploring the route from New York to Nevada and stopping at many tourist attractions. In less than a week of the family’s arrival to Las Vegas, they had moved out of their temporary lodging with Bud’s family, and into their own home around the corner.

Seven years later, when Clark County Wholesale decided not to go international, Art secured a job in the Nevada Power’s body shop where he worked from 1969 until retiring in 1992. Besides welding, mechanics and painting, he also served as the union’s shop steward. While at Nevada Power, Art mentored many young workers, as he did his own 5 children, to increase their skills in preparation for the best work opportunities.

Once again, Arthur A. Patton was ‘Everyone’s Father’.