Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: eddie1
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 11:44 AM

Someone once said that if you put your thumb in a pond, then pull it out, the size of the hole it leaves is an indication of the difference you have made to the lives of others!
Spaw, me old mucker, you have left a f*****g great hole. This thread proves that!

Bye!

Eddie

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 11:13 AM

I hope someone can gather the Cletus stories together for us. Online, or in print.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Amergin
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 10:28 AM

Pat could always get me laughing and had a way of making me feel like a worthwhile human being...especially in my darkest moments...where all hope had failed me and I was barely going through the mechanical motions of living...and always supportive.

His stories of Cletus and gang were crass...vulgar but bloody hilarious...at the same time his stories of his boys would melt my heart, especially the one of Tristan and the truckers who g ave him a ride in the semi...

Fucking a....he was the epitome of what the cat was all about.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: fat B****rd
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 09:56 AM

As Peter K said.
Spaw was kind when I had my own sad loss last year and always a friendly correspondent. My best regards and condolences to family and friends.
Charlie.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: KT
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 09:53 AM

At last night's music session, in our dear Spaw's memory, I sang Bob Franke's "Thanksgiving Eve."
"What can you do with each moment of your life, but love, 'til you've loved it away...?"

Spaw's brought us all together, once again.

KT

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 09:40 AM

The boat has sailed and gone from our sight. But that does not mean the boat has disappeared.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 09:40 AM

It's all been said. Just wanted to put my name in the book.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 09:31 AM

To echo what I heard recently - Spaw was a good bloke. Love and condolences to Karen and family.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,jed marum
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 09:25 AM

sorry - that was me, above .... cookieless, at the moment - for some reason.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 09:24 AM

Well said - McGrath.

It's a sad day for Mudcatters, sadder still for the family and loved of Spaw. My thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones. May we all keep his memory in our hearts - and continue to keep his thoughts alive through these threads.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 08:42 AM

One of the joys with the Mudcat is the way sometimes when people open up an old thread to continue the topic, and you find yourself reading posts by Mudfriends who have left us - Rick Fielding, katlaughing, just for a start. So we can still hope to encounter Spaw again from time to time.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 08:10 AM

Hello, old friends. Not the reunion I would have chosen, but as we pass in the aisles and pews, I am grateful for the reminder that this is not really Brigadoon, but an actual community filled with amazing, struggling, flawed, warm, real, gorgeous human beings.

I too imagine this sunny Saturday as 'Spaw strolls up to the Great Getaway in the Sky. Thusly: http://youtu.be/bSC6Ciqyjwc

Pat's heart and soul, his devotion to his family, his intelligence were always clear and appealing, and one of the things I loved best about him, as Mick said, was that he could and would "call out ignorance in a straightforward and unvarnished way". The world needs more of that.

I look forward to strolling back through his posts from over the years, and remembering (as well as his wisdom) the many, many early morning cups of coffee spewed out over keyboard and desk, as I was caught defenseless in the face of his unmatched wit.

My condolences, Karen, and Pat's sons. May the memory of his great love soothe your grief. Thank you for sharing him with us.

I shall make, eat and share a big batch of Buckeyes in his memory.

Dani

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: David C. Carter
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 07:59 AM

One of the best persons I sadly never got to meet.

RIP


David

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Max
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 07:42 AM

A damn fine man done gone. Farewell old friend.

Karen, we're here for you. You have a very large, albeit very odd army of weirdos at your beck and call. Much love.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,Fossil
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 07:31 AM

Oh dear... Bugger... Why always the good 'uns? So long, old timer. We will indeed miss you. Condolences to family and friends. Love to the rest of the grieving Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: nutty
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 07:03 AM

Can't say anything that hasn't already been said. I hoped (a vain hope ) to meet him one day and find out if his physical personna was as large as the one he assumed online. A giant of a man with a ready wit he had me laughing out loud on so many, many occassions. RIP Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 06:54 AM

The old devil got me my virtual job as chief bedpan operative at the NYCFTTS and I've always relished his kind (if physically damaged) heart, disguised in his scatalogical postings. Another part of the Mudcat gone too soon. I'll never get to link him to my latest set of Greek photos. That celestial folk band of departed Mudcatters just gets bigger.
Kali Nichta, Pat,
RtS

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: vectis
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 06:49 AM

One of the funniest and most erudite men I met on-line. He will be missed by so many of us. RIP Spaw.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Les from Hull
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 06:49 AM

Going to miss this guy. Night night Spas.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Raedwulf
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 05:44 AM

I bet he left halfway through 6 arguments, just to annoy the hell out of the opposition! :) See you on the other side (eventually, I hope), Pat.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 05:34 AM

I consider myself something of a 'wordsmith'. But there are times when words fail.
Farewell to one of the good ones.

R.I.P. Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 05:25 AM

We always know it's coming to all of us, but it's devastating when it happens. I've never met Spaw, never seen him, and never talked to him except through posts on the Cat, which is a kind of diminished talking, but I'm going to miss him like a brother.

Since I read the news last night the words of Henry Lawson's The Outside Track have been running through my mind, especially that last verse,

And one by one, and two by two,
Sailed from the wharf since then;
I said good-bye to the last I knew,
The last of the careless men.
And I can't but think the times we had,
Were the best times after all;
As I turn aside with a lonely glass,
And drink to the bar-room wall.

For they marry and go as the world rolls back,
They marry and vanish and die;
But their spirit shall live on the outside track,
As long as the years go by.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 04:59 AM

"The sweetest apple from the highest bough has been picked by a greater hand". Pat, Patrick Patterson (son of Patrick), you were one of the few people who, within the space of one brief paragraph, could be profane, profound, offer comfort, make me laugh & cry, but always left me with the feeling that something special had just taken place. I will treasure your posts & PMs. I will miss your humour & insight. I will miss your love of life which shone through every word you wrote. Above all, I will miss You, Pat, a man I've never met in person, yet feel I know so well. You have enriched my life.
         To Karen, your Family & Friends, I send my heartfelt condolences & love. Despite the ocean that separates us, Ann & I are by your side, each & every day.
                                     With Much Love,
                                                             Nigel & Ann Patterson (two 'Ts' in honour of Pat)
                                                             xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: billybob
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 04:24 AM

The saddest news that we never wanted to hear, thank you Spaw for all your love and wisdom. We never met but you made a huge impact on the Rainbow,all my love to Karen.

Wendy xxxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: greg stephens
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 04:07 AM

Oh dear. A bloke who brought us so much laughter...something we need a lot. Thoughts to Karen. Thoughts to all of us

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 03:31 AM

Ut's so obvious as you read the posts what an incredible impact Spaw has had on so many people. Rest in peace.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: alanabit
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 03:29 AM

It was those tough and often obscene posts of his which caught my eye, but you quickly realised that behind them there was a gentle spirit. He was unique and irreplaceable. Farewell Pat. We are really going to miss you.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: mouldy
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 02:59 AM

I go away for a few days, and I come back to this saddest of news.
Spaw, your legacy of kind thoughts and incisive wit at always the right times will live on in my heart.
My thoughts are with Karen and the rest of your family and friends.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 02:36 AM

I will drink to him tonight.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 02:04 AM

. . . sigh. . .

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,Gervase
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 01:50 AM

Just woken up to see this via FaceBook and thinking that a part of my life has gone. Bugger.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,LTS on the sofa
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 01:04 AM

Word games..   Hmmm, yes...

He let me continue a Word with Friends game, just to see if I could get 600points, when he could have resigned and lost by a small margin, but he let it go on and I thrashed him by over 300 points. Between us, that game clocked up nearly 1000 points, even without me getting the magical 600... but that was the man. He'd continue playing the game, to see the end, not pull out half way because he was losing.

Seems he spent his life refusing to resign... So many times he could have just thrown in the tiles, but he didn't. Now the pot is empty, there are no words left.

LTS

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,partridge
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 12:52 AM

So sorry to hear this news. I remember Pat with great fondness. Sending lots of love to Karen and the boys

Pat xxx

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,donmeixner
Date: 21 Jun 14 - 12:21 AM

I believe people we love go through hell at the last just to make it easier for us to let them go. Pat and I played some epic games of Word and found we were equally matched.   He was on the way to winning the last one when he left for the last time. He always seemed to be more than a friend. He was a pal.

Don

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,maryrrf (no cookie)
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:58 PM

I'm sorry to hear this news. Deepest condolences to Spaw's family. Another of the "old guard" gone. He will be missed.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: JudyB
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:53 PM

Sending light and love - and my sympathy to Karen, and all friends, far and near.
~JudyB

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:50 PM

I don't know what to say. There is so much history here for me going back to almost the beginning of mudcat, and Pat has been such a huge part of this community. Special, special man. Hugs to you, Karen.

Alice

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Guy Wolff
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:36 PM

So many years of very kind and humorus friendship .. When I started on Mudcat I had never used a computer and could not type. (I still cant spell) A few joked me about my low standards of comunication but Spaw always got what i was tring to say.I was just holding on when I got here . .My daughter was battling a mean and very bad Brain tumor at the Yale Hospitol and I had just found out my youngest three year old son had autisum ... Spaw had an honest kindness and the kind of friendship that has a backbone of true loyalty to it .He will not be forgotten because of it . I know Rick is talking to him right now about strings and tunings and probably fart jokes .. So many warm thoughts   .. All the best to all here and so glad to hear so many old friends on this thread . Guy

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:29 PM

Thanks for all that you shared with us, Catspaw.

Condolence to your family.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:26 PM

Maybe ten years ago, I made up my mind that I had to meet Catspaw. I think it was October 2001, just after the Getaway. I took a trip west from the Getaway in Maryland, and ended up driving along the Ohio River to Louisville and then to Cincinnati. I headed back east to Columbus, and realized I wasn't far from Bremen, Ohio. I used to tease Catspaw about all the road kill I saw along the way, but I got to Bremen and it was a wonderful little town with the streets paved with bricks.
I got to Spaw's addressed, unannounced. I rang the doorbell, and Spaw answered the door. He recognized me right away, and spoke as if meeting somebody out of the blue was an everyday experience in his life. He said something like, "Joe Offer, how the heck are you?" And then we sat down for an hour or two and had a wonderful time.
That's the only time I ever saw him, but it stuck with me. To me, he's always been a really extraordinary person. I know that he went through a lot of health issues over the last decade or more, but he never seemed to lose his spirit.
Spaw, may you rest in peace. You were a good man.

And Karen, I've never met you in person, but bless you for being all you were to him.

-Joe Offer-

---

Here's a link to Spaw's posts. He last posted on 29 May 2014.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: gnu
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:20 PM

Once upon a time, I recounted a story, off the cuff, about an interaction I had with a humming bird in a Mudcat thread (post?). Spaw said something like... that's the best thing I have read that you wrote... that was great. It was more than that nutshell and I was taken aback. It was a simple description of what had just happened but Spaw saw it as a 'sharing' of my experience. We PMd about it. He encouraged me to write. I have. I have shared few of my writings with few. I have been encouraged by others that I also admire to keep writing (thanks) but Spaw was the first and he deserves credit for being that guy that is just a great guy. Went out of his way to encourage a hack like me. Went out of his way to advise me when things got nasty on The Cat with trolls and such. Went out of his way... yeah. That's what he did. Went out of his way. For so many people, as witnessed in these accolades.

If ya don't know the Rainbow Thread, ya might not understand these last words but they mean more now than ever.

UP SPAW!

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: J-boy
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:19 PM

Bye, Spaw.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Micca
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:17 PM

I thought I posted this earlier, but It is on Fb and not here
"Love and Hugs to you, Karen, and to Tris and the "other" Michael Patterson also, as for Spaw, He will be missed and mourned and remembered all over the world by many people who never met him, yet whom he touched through Mudcat and Facebook and few could ask for or merit a better epitaph"

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: olddude
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:16 PM

Can't tell you how much he meant to me he would always call he and Karen would make me laugh when I was down. Pat was my friend I will miss him more than I can say
Thank you pat for being such a good friend to me. I love you my brother I love you Karen and kids I will never forget

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Rosebrook
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:03 PM

My heartfelt condolences to Karen and the rest of Pat's family. Spaw certainly made an incredible imprint on so many, many folks here in the mudcat community. Comfort to us all.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 11:00 PM

One of the treasured 2 hours of my life was meeting Pat & Karen & Tristian when they made the time to drive up and meet Rita & myself on the edge of Columbus for lunch as we were heading home from St. Louis. We laughed and compared notes and **shared** as much as we could in that precious little window of reality. Pat's love for Karen & his boys was just as clear as he, himself, showed for all these years in his writings.

I had asked Pat to do me a favor if *I* happened to die, and he laughingly agreed. Now it seems I shall have to scheme in some other way... (It's ok Spaw...I'll manage)

I swore I'd get this sent before allowing the tears to blur my vision--- didn't quite make it.

'bye, guy.....

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: MBSGeorge
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 10:44 PM

Condolences to the family. A lovely man. RIP Catspaw.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Rex
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 10:35 PM

This forum was the first online community I ever joined. When did it start? I have since joined two others. From the beginning there were some of our members that became the foundation of this forum. Kat was one. Catspaw another. But I always saw Catspaw as something more. Sometimes a jester, sometimes a referee. In any case this forum will always reflect some of his ways. Happy trails Spaw, may we all meet again.

Rex

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: GUEST,open mike
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 10:24 PM

Good bye to our dear Patrick "SPAW" Patterson and
love and hugs and best wishes to Karen and the boys,
Tristan and Michael .

That song posted earlier "It's In His Heart" is a great tribute.

SPAW has inspired many and his insight and humor has uplifted us
here for many years. As one of the founding members of Lane, Fielding, Patterson, and Swan---Layabouts At Large and For Hire, he has clocked many hour of diligent service to all.

He has brought to life a whole cast of characters including Cletus the
possum and others...I hope they will continue to make appearances here.

Subject: RE: Obit: Pat "Catspaw49" Patterson - June 20, 2014
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 20 Jun 14 - 10:19 PM

Too much loss this week.

Oh, Karen!

I'm sorry, I just can't say anything else right now.

My heart is with you...

Linn