Living Positive with Imperfection: A Memoir

By Robert D. Patton

Robert Bob Pattons book A Memoir, the personal story of his fifty-nine-year career as an educator, a state representative, and a public servant, contains details of three generations of a family that worked the soil, built community, and took responsibility for their own welfare like many similar families, and made this country one of the greatest in the world.



Bobs personal progression from a high school teacher to professor in a state university, state representative, and a public servant is evidence of a highly competent, and well-motivated individual who achieved significant accomplishments. He is to be particularly admired for his lack of bitterness, despite divorces, life as a single parent, political defeat, and job loss. His only complaint is against politicians who will do anything to remain in power no matter whether it is morally right or wrong or good for society or not.
Although well past retirement age, he continues to work for the Tennessee legislature despite being displaced in one position when the opposing party gained control of the legislature.
Mervin Perry, PhD
Professor Emeritus, East Tennessee State University

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514423783

Robert D. Patton

Dr. Robert “Bob” Patton is a retired college professor but certainly not retired from life. In his memoir he has related many of the life experiences that formed the basis for the values by which he has lived. Many of these events will have the reader recalling similar events in his/her life. Bob was successful in areas that included family, academia, politics, and friendships. Even though he experienced political defeats and divorce his faith carried him through. Bob should be applauded for writing this book to inform his children and relatives about their family history. I would encourage prospective readers to read this memoir, as I believe you will find his story entertaining, informative, and uplifting. George W. Johnson, PhD University of Maryland University College, retired Robert D. “Bob” Patton has served his community as a county commissioner. Most recently he served the state of Tennessee 2008–2014 as a House sergeant-at-arms. From 2004 to 2008, he was the administrative assistant to the Secretary of State of Tennessee; and for the ten years prior to that, he was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. He has both taught at and chaired the Department of Health Education for East Tennessee State University and has edited four text books. He published Tennessee Political Fireworks along with numerous articles and papers.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Robert D. Bob Patton.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015918389

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-2380-6

                Softcover        978-1-5144-2379-0

                eBook             978-1-5144-2378-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Photo credits: Front and back photo of Buffalo River by Manolita Patton. Interior photographs by Robert D. Bob Patton or relatives with permission to publish.

Good faith efforts have been made to trace copyrights on material included without permission, and due acknowledgment and proper credit will be inserted in future printings after notice has been received.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 12/11/2015

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Contents

I.   Introduction

II.   Growing Up In Riverside

III.   Steel Driving Man

IV.   Austin Peay State University

V.   Pictures

VI.   Clarksville High School Teaching, Marriage, And Children

VII.   A Professional Career At East Tennessee State University

VIII.   Divorce And Single Parenting

IX.   Pictures

X.   Retirement, Politics, And Politicians

XI.   Epilogue

XII.   Appendices

1.   Family

A. Patton and Bass Lineage

B. Bloom and Staggs Lineage

C. Health History

D. Miscellaneous

E. Family Burial Sites

2.   Personal

A. Some Thoughts from Friends

B. Vitae

C. Book Review

Dedication

To my mom for the inspiration and good memories.

My wife, Lolly, for her patience with me.

My children, Beth, Elaine, Robb, and Derek.

My cousin Jane Hinson, for help in researching family and community information.

My friends who have contributed to my life to make it more enjoyable and meaningful.

Introduction

The future belongs to those who prepare for it.

—Anonymous

I did not think a lot about family history when I was young. As I grew older, I became more interested in my past and the experiences and people who helped mold me into the person I am. I have also come to see the importance of the environment I experienced and how it has contributed to my life. Some of it was negative and some positive; however, you can’t change it. I want my children and grandchildren to know more about me; in doing so, they will know more about themselves.

There have been many times I have wished I could ask my deceased parents about people and places. Since I cannot do that, I thought it important to leave a written record of some of my history for my family. With that in mind, I have tried to record the things I remember about relatives and friends and how they were involved at various stages of my life. I thought it important that I express some of the attitudes and the feelings I have about people, places, and things. My children are old enough to appreciate what I have recorded. The grandchildren may have an interest in forty or fifty years. If any of the family gets interested in their heritage, they will appreciate my efforts.

This book is divided into an Introduction; Growing Up in Riverside; Steel Driving Man; Austin Peay State University; Clarksville High School Teaching; Marriage and Children; A Professional Career at East Tennessee State University; Divorce and Single Parenting; Retirement, Politics, and Politicians; Epilogue; and Appendices.

I am thankful to Anne Sherrill for her helpful suggestions and encouragement with this endeavor. My cousin Jane Hinson has spent hours helping me assemble family history and has made the writing of this book more enjoyable. Larry Crabtree was very helpful in securing needed data.

Special thanks goes to Loretta Bradley-Fritz for her typing, computers skills, help in organizing the book, and editorial suggestions in general.

Robert D. Bob Patton

Growing Up In Riverside

T he Depression in the 1930s changed the lives of many people forever. I was born September 23, 1933, to parents striving to survive. It was tough everywhere but especially in rural areas. Hohenwald, Tennessee, located in Lewis County had a population of about 980 in 1930, with 5,258 for the whole county. By 1950 Hohenwald had only grown to a population of 1,703, with 6,068 for Lewis County including the one town. My home was in Riverside which is out in the country ten miles from Hohenwald.

My only brother, Bill, was born May 15, 1936. He was born a healthy baby while I was born with a tendency to be a sick baby. I was born a blue baby with colic and with the umbilical cord around my neck. I developed asthma as a preteenager and found it to be a life-defining diagnosis. I learned I had to place mind over body, or I would accomplish very little. I was allergic to horses, dry corn, dogs, and cigarette smoke. Unfortunately, I did not learn some of that until I was out of high school. Daddy and his friends would smoke heavily in the winter with the house closed and no ventilation. It certainly did not help me; however, I can’t blame him since little was known then about the danger of smoking and its effect on asthmatics. Most of my sickness occurred in the winter months, so I spent much of my time inside. I never developed into the outdoorsman and hunter Dad and my brother were. Squirrel, rabbit, and deer hunting were their favorites. I did go squirrel hunting some. We were taught not to kill anything unless it was a pest or was edible. We ate deer, squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, and ground hogs. It was a needed supplement to our diet. Some people ate opossums; however, we did not.

No doubt the health of many was affected by poor nutrition, poor housing, lack of adequate clothing, and exposure to environmental hazards. I am sure I was affected. Many of my friends died early in life. I think my reasonably long life has been because of my formal education and the fact I became a health teacher.

I remember Mom talking about a few times when all we had to eat was fried green tomatoes. When gasoline changed from 0.18 to 0.21 a gallon and postage stamps from 0.03 to 0.05 my parents commented about how difficult it was getting to live. There just were no jobs and no income.

Daddy worked on the WPA in the late 1930s. That was part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s social and public works program. There are those who point to those programs as the downfall of America. I have no doubt many, including myself, would probably not have lived without the New Deal. The New Deal legislation provided jobs to men like my dad. He and others were willing to work but could find no jobs. Bridges were built, and other jobs were created in communities. Daddy worked on a job that built outdoor toilets. That was an important program since it helped reduce pinworm infections in the south.

Other jobs Daddy worked at during his life were farming, carpentry, and odd jobs. He left home to work in an industry in the state of Washington about 1942. There was such a shortage of workers that a bus was sent to pick up those in Riverside and surrounding communities who wanted to go work there. Most of the workers, including Daddy, returned home after about six months. The work was hard, and the men had left their families behind. I suspect it was easier to come home than move families there. Most of them liked where they grew up too well to really take on a new environment.

Daddy drove a school bus for about twenty years until he retired. He did some farming, and I think it was the best time of his life. Many young people grew up in the community and remembered him as their school bus driver.

Many country people were affected because of little formal education. It was a different time and place, and education was unaffordable and of little importance to many rural people. Daddy had to quit formal school after the eighth grade due to the death of his dad. Daddy was from a family of eight children with a mother who could not make a living for all of them. His mother, my Ma Patton, ran a small store that probably took in little income. Daddy and his brother, Leonard, were the oldest, and it fell to them to help the family to survive. Leonard moved to Birmingham to work in a steel plant operation. Daddy stayed and worked locally; however, I don’t know what type of work. Grand Pa Algie Patton had worked in the ore mines at Allen’s Creek before his early death in 1925.

I learned a lot from both my mom and dad. The learning consisted mostly of practical things which have helped me all my life. Mama had attended Middle Tennessee State College for three or four quarters. She was a bright woman and was my inspiration and encouragement. She taught school for ten years in addition to being a housewife. Mama taught me to believe in myself. When I was negative about things she would ask me questions and cause me to think about different answers. Daddy taught me to drive at age fifteen, about county living and the importance of living a life so that people would trust you.

Our closest neighbors were a black couple, Tom and Tennie Wallace. They were good people, and I enjoyed visiting their house. We did not visit too often since their children were grown, and his son Bill and their children moved from the community when I was young.

Daddy had many stories he could spin on a cold night. The stories were usually at their best when Hawkie Robertson, our second closest neighbor, dropped by, and the two would reminisce about their lives. Bill and I would sit and listen while Mom did housework. Daddy never helped and Mom rarely asked Bill and me to help.

In the summertime we would sometimes sit for hours on the front steps and listen to the stories. We sat outside because the house was hot, and we had no fans. I not only enjoyed the stories but also learned to enjoy darkness and the sounds of nature. Sounds such as bullfrogs, owls, whip-o-wills, cicadas, and crickets were part of life.

The stories the men told had real meaning for us. More than likely the stories had a moral lesson. Today I cannot recall many of the stories but can think of some situations where my actions go back to the stories told by Daddy, Hawkie, Hag Robertson, Carmel Nutt, Tom Wallace, and others in the community. I was never interested in visiting a local beer joint. They had told many stories about people getting into fights, someone getting shot, or others getting cut with knives. Lewis County was a dry county, and places that sold beer were usually rough and dangerous to visit.

Many of the stories involved those who had worked in the iron ore mines and processing plant in Allen’s Creek. The population of over one thousand was big compared to ten or fifteen people now living in the general vicinity. When the mines closed in 1925 so did everything else. The furnace did operate some until it was torn down in 1936. The railroad removed the tracks in 1942 from Hohenwald to Allen’s Creek. Stores closed, and people moved on. Daddy remained in the community.

Stories about moonshining were always big. I actually experienced the making of one story when a neighbor with a chopping ax taught me respect for alcohol. When he was drinking too much one day he got in an argument with another neighbor. Before too much was said the first one grabbed his chopping ax and threatened the second one and started to go after him. The second one hightailed it away and avoided real trouble. I never forgot seeing those types of encounters. No doubt some of the stories about moonshine were flavored by stretching or altering. Still it was the story that counted. Bill became a better storyteller than me.

Times change, and people rarely sit on a porch today as we did and learn by listening. Stories may have no practical value and may serve only as entertainment. Perhaps many do teach common sense, a trait which formal education often leaves out. Stories represent the other side of the two-bit ax of education and are used more in the classroom today. The development of the Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee, has illustrated the value of stories being told and preserved. Mama would entertain Bill and me with some of her Brer Rabbit stories. The gist of the story I remember best was when the fox caught the rabbit and planned to kill him. The rabbit said, Fine, just don’t throw me in the briar patch. The fox ignored that and again said he was going to kill him. The rabbit again pleaded that whatever the fox did was okay as long as he did not throw him in the briar patch. The rabbit said, I will be all scratched and cut and miserable, so please don’t throw me in the briar patch. The fox became intrigued with the begging and decided to punish the rabbit by throwing him in the briar patch. When the fox did that, the rabbit began to laugh and thanked the fox for throwing him into his home.

Mama wanted a girl when I was born. She told me she cried, and the doctor told her someday she would be sorry. She told me how sorry she was when she saw my determination and ability to succeed. She was especially happy when I received my college degrees. I went from Johnson City to Hohenwald and provided her a ride back to Knoxville when I received the Doctor of Education degree from the University of Tennessee. We went on to Johnson City after I graduated and spent a week before I took her back home. Daddy was sixty-nine and did not want to travel that far. Daddy wasn’t the type to say much, but Mama told