Dorothy Aldine Patten

Dorothy Boyd Patten, 92, departed her amazing life on earth January 12, 2021. She was born in Tampa, FL and attended Florida State University. In the 1950’s she moved to Tennessee where she met the love of her life, Tarbell Patten, Jr. When they married in 1963, she brought 2 sons and he brought 2 sons and a daughter into the marriage, and they later had a daughter together. By the time they married, she had already earned her private pilot’s license as a single mother. She worked full-time while raising six children, yet she always had the time and capacity to be Mom, not only to her six but also to many of their friends. She loved them all unconditionally, even when they weren’t so loveable. She drove more miles in car pool than most long-haul truckers, and was the queen of casseroles and the 5-minute power nap. When she lost her husband, she didn’t give up and quit because that was never her style. She threw herself into volunteering with Sertoma and building up a grief counseling group, a new career with the City of Chattanooga, being a grandmother and eventually a great-grandmother. She retired from Manpower when she lost her sight to macular degeneration, but she never gave up. She stopped driving on her own, moved herself to a retirement community, and declared her independence all over again at 82. And she became the “Mayor” of Creekside and spent 10 years as their ambassador to new residents. She was preceded in death by her husband, George Tarbell Patten, Jr., son, John Salem Patten, and daughter Charlotte Jeanne Patten. She is survived by: Scott Alan (Laurie) Patten, George Tarbell (Sharon) Patten III, Douglas Boyd (Char) Patten, Louise Patten (Chris) Boggs, 7 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandsons. She is now with her God, she is with the love of her life, she is with John and Charlotte, and she can see perfectly. She will be sorely missed. Services will be private, in lieu of flowers,  the family requests that memorials be made to Signal Center specifying Assistive Technology Services https://signalcenters.org/index.php/signal-centers-donation/. Arrangements entrusted to Lane Funeral Home, 601 Ashland Terrace, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37415, (423) 877-3524, www.lanefh.com.