John W. Patterson Jr., 74, lacrosse star, coach
John W. Patterson Jr., a lacrosse star who coached at Kenwood High School and was elected to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, died Monday of leukemia at Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, N.Y. He was 74 and lived in Sanborn, N.Y.
Mr. Patterson, a defense and attackman who was a member of the All-New England team in 1950 and 1951, came to Baltimore in 1951 to coach at Sollers Point High School after earning his bachelor's degree at Springfield College.
The former Rosedale resident established the lacrosse program at Dumbarton Middle School and the former North Point junior high school and was a longtime coach at Kenwood High School.
After leaving Baltimore County public schools for health reasons in 1970, he returned to Lewiston, where he started the Niagara University Lacrosse Club. For 19 years, he was an official in the Niagara Frontier Lacrosse Officials Association.
He served as first executive director of the Iroquois Nationals from 1983 to 1988 and conducted many lacrosse clinics.
An Iroquois Indian, Mr. Patterson was born and raised on the Tuscarora Indian Reserve in Lewiston, where he began playing lacrosse as a 10-year-old.
In 1969, Mr. Patterson established Tuskewe Krafts, producers of handmade American Indian and women's lacrosse sticks.
Two weeks ago, Mr. Patterson was notified of his election to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, whose national headquarters is on the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University.
Services were held Friday in Lewiston.
He is survived by his wife of 29 years, the former Carol Morelock; two sons, John W. Patterson III and Kevin M. Patterson, both of Las Vegas; a daughter, Patricia Ann Davis of Camp Verde, Ariz.; a sister, Leah Mae Hippman of New Haven, Conn.; and five grandchildren.
Herman Mathews, 68, rehabilitation center cook
Herman Mathews, a Navy veteran, Elks official and a longtime cook at the Maryland Rehabilitation Center in Northeast Baltimore, died Tuesday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care of cancer. He was 68.
Mr. Mathews was born in Richmond, Va., and moved to Baltimore where he attended Douglass High School and Cortez Peters Business School. After serving two years in the Navy, he worked as an engineer at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft factory in Middle River.
Mr. Mathews, who had always loved to cook, began a second career as a cook at the Rehabilitation Center on Argonne Drive. He prepared meals for injured and disabled clients there for more than 20 years. He retired in 1993, then spent four years as a van driver at Elder Health Care until his cancer was diagnosed in 1997.
Mr. Mathews was a former commander and president of the East Baltimore Elks Lodge No. 1043. He married Agnes Mary Russell in 1992.
He is survived by his wife; his mother, Esther Combs; a daughter, Sheila Massey of Gwynn Oak; four stepchildren, Tulsa and Trenda Wills of Philadelphia, Telfa Wills of Allentown, Pa., and Nathaniel Wills of Washington, D.C.; five brothers; three sisters; two grandchildren; and an aunt, Mary Wadlow of Richmond, Va., who had raised him.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Oak Street AME Church, 123 W. 24th St., Baltimore.