Navy to Honor Pattens Here Wednesday Iowa’s Pattens Aid War Bond Sale
That famous nine of the Navy — the Pattens of Iowa—will make Wednesday homecoming day when they arrive in DesMoines to help with the war bond and stamp sale celebration.
Above, the father, Clarence F. Patten, is show with seven of his sons, survivors of the aircraft carrier Lexington, as they sold war bonds in a Portland, Ore., department store while on furlough.
From left are the father; Bruce, Gilbert, Allen, Marvin, Myrne, Ray and Clarence jr. Another son, Wayne, 18, enlisted in the navy Friday and will also be in Des Moines. They formerly lived near Lake City and Odebolt, Ia.
The boys’ 84-year-old grandmother will join them here.
Source: Des Moines Tribune, Monday, June 29, 1942 page 7 (photo included)
Patten, Father of 8 Sons In Service, Dies Succumbed in Naval Hospital Wednesday; Family Gained Fame.
Lanesboro (THNS)—Clarence Patten, sr., USN, father of the famous Patten family of eight seagoing sons, died Wednesday in a hospital at Seattle, Wash., at the age of 55 years. He had been in the hospital since November.
The body, accompanied by two of his sons, will be brought to the former home of the family in Imperial, Neb., for funeral services and burial, but plans as to arrangements have not been learned here.
With the exception of one son, Gilbert, who received a medical discharge after 10 years service is now in a hospital at Walla Walla, Wash., all of Mr. Patten’s sons are in the navy; Clarence, Marvin, Allan, Myrne, Ray, Bruce and Wayne. Besides his eight sons, he has a daughter, Mrs. Ernest Sporleder (Martha) of Fonda.
Mr. Patten originally of the Lanesboro community, where he was reared, moved later to Odebolt, where the family was living when nationwide attention was directed to them with six sons in the navy. Two others joined after that time.
Mr. Patten worked in the Bremerton, Wash., navy yards before enlisting in the navy three years ago.
At War Bond Event. He and his family were guests of honor in Des Moines July 1, 1942, at a war stamp and bond day, designed to show the public that, while every family cannot be a Patten family, there are other ways to serve.
Mr. Patten was married in 1910 to Miss Anna Balotti, who preceded him in death. A daughter, Hazel, died several years ago.
Survivors. Besides his eight sons and daughter above named, he leaves his aged mother, Mrs. Mary Patten, near Lanesboro, one brother, Frank Patten, Redwood Falls, Minn., and three sisters, Mrs. Laura Fowler, Lake City; Mrs. Oscar Rutledge, Des Moines; and Mrs. Carrie Harmon, in Nebraska.
Seven of his sons were serving on the Lexington when she was sunk in the Coral Sea engagement.
Source: Carroll Daily Times Herald, Friday, March 9, 1945 Page 1
Man Who Joined His Eight Sons In Navy Is Dead.
IMPERIAL, Neb. (AP)—Clarence Floyd Patten, sr., 58, father of the famed eight Patten brothers of the navy, was buried at Lamar, Neb., Wednesday.
Patten died Saturday at a naval hospital in Seattle. He had served as recruiting officer at Portland, Ore., after the navy waived the age limit in 1941, so he could join his sons in service.
Patten and his wife lived on a farm near Lamar until her death in 1927. The family then went to Iowa, farming near Lake City and later operating a saw mill near Odebolt.
The Patten brothers gained fame when seven of them survived the sinking of the aircraft carrier Lexington in the battle of the Coral Sea. Six of them had been bombed off the battleship Nevada in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The boys have been scattered since the navy ordered brother groups separated following the tragic deaths of Iowa’s Sullivan brothers.
Patten’s sister, Mrs. Martha Sporleder, lives at Fonda, Ia.
Source: The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA — Thursday, March 15, 1945
Gilbert Russell Patten was born Sept. 11, 1911 to Clarence F. and Anna Billotti Patten. He died June 29, 1996 and is buried in Lanesboro Cemetery, Lanesboro, IA. Petty Officer Patten served in World War II with the U.S. Navy and was a Pearl Harbor survivor.
Source: ancestry.com
