Frederick J. Patch
Fred Patch passed away Saturday, June 20, 2001. He was attending Pensacola Junior College and serving in the Coast Guard Reserve at the time of his death. He served on board the Coast Guard Cutters Morro Bay and Vigilant. On the anniversary of his death, I salute my shipmate from the Vig who taught me how to make pizza dough as we listened to Doug Stone songs. I remember how I thought he knew everything about cooking when I first reported to the Vig. I later learned that what he didn't know, he just simply made up, which he soon taught me to do. Photographs of times in Aruba and of he and another shipmate deep sixing some chef jackets keep him in my memory along with his hang loose hand gestures. Fred was a wonderful guy to work with, and he was always there to give me a hand if I was falling behind. He always knew how to make everyone laugh, and his presence made life underway bearable. I'll never forget one night around 0200 or 0300, it was piped that the Vig was in pursuit of a GO-FAST boat, and flight quarters was being set. So the crew was cursing and mad due to the lack of sleep, and out of the blue, you hear Fred holler in his best Dukes of Hazzard Rosco P. Coltrane
voice 'AGGGHHHEEERR...GER GER GER...WE'RE IN HOT PURSUIT FLASH! LET'S GET EM!' I miss you dearly Fred. May God bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you and grant you peace.
06/19/03 Submitted by: G. Snider
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