My life, My Story
Robert Seelee Patterson jr.
I was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on April 11, 1928. Reading is close to Philadelphia, and it was very delightful to be living in that area at the time I grew up. My father was a hard worker and always employed. He was a carpenter and a very, very terrific father. My mother was also very, very involved at the house; she kept it clean, took care of the kids, and worked when it was possible so that there was extra income coming into the home. I had no problems with family affairs. I enjoyed living with my parents and sisters. I had four sisters: Nina, Betty, Mildred, and Patricia.
I was the second youngest, born right before Patricia.
I enlisted in the military when I was 14 years old, but I did such a bad job forging my birth certificate that they caught it, and I had to wait until I was 17. The very day I was 17, I was in Philadelphia signing up with my father, who verified my age. That's when the military accepted me, and I went into the Navy befote graduating from high school. I became a Navy Seabee, which is a construction battalion that is attached to the Marines. I fought with the Marines in the Asiatic Pacific. We did underwater demolition. We would set charges on different obstacles that were preventing our invasion force from going into Japan. We went in after they dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, and our ship was right next to General Douglas MacArthur's ship. When we got there, I was with the group that buried 800 bodies. We used bulldozers to push out the earth and place the bodies in an open pit and cover it up with the dirt that we plowed. We looked for body parts, like arms and legs, and put those along with the 800 bodies.
We also searched for people and weapons in caves.
When I got out of the service, I went back to Pennsylvania for a short period of time. I also joined the US Navy Reserves and learned how to fly. (I kept my pilot's license until I was in my 80s and used it for various jobs, including crop-dusting, flying people to destinations, and scouting fish for the tuna fleet). Me and my friend Billy Blimline left Pennsylvania in a vehicle that Billy had built, a little truck with two bunks inside. Billy and I worked our way across the US doing different jobs. We worked at a gas station, canned tomatoes for Hunts, chiseled out Borax, and replanted forests after wildfires. We were headed for Alaska, but we didn't quite get there at that point. We got as far as Seattle, Washington. From there, we went south and met a man by the name of Joe S. Rogers at the Hilton Creek Lodge in Yosemite. I met Mr. Rogers while bartending at the Lodge, and I took him to church on Sundays.
He really enjoyed that. He invited me to come to San Diego and stay on one of his boats. He had a fleet of tuna boats, and that's how I got into the tuna fleet. He introduced me to one of the Captains of the boats, Joaquin Qualin, who I fished with for quite a few years.
I worked on the boat with Donald Dias, who introduced me to his sister, Jeanette. Jeanette was very, very beautiful, kind, and thoughtful. We got married in Vegas in 1957 before getting married again at St. Charles Church in San Diego with Father Cooney. He was the priest that married us, and we became very good friends over the years.
Jeanette and I loved to go to Las Vegas together, especially to watch the shows. We had a lot of friends over there.
We also loved doing family trips in the car and taking family vacations. We were married just short of 50 years. She passed away from ovarian cancer. It is hard living without her. We had three children, two girls and a boy: Patricia, Mary, and Robbie. I'm also very close with my nephew, Denny, who is my sister Patricia's son. He lived with us in Alaska (yes, finally made it there!), and we fished together with Robbie on the tuna fleet in San Diego until the fishing industry was eliminated in the US due to excessive restrictions. Robbie moved to Louisiana after the tuna fleet and passed away from a heart attack in 2016. Denny lives in Florida, Mary lives in Iowa, and Patricia lives here in Point Loma with me.
My mother-in-law built this house in the 1930s, and I moved in after marrying Jeanette in 1957. Currently, my daughter (Patricia), granddaughter (Elisabeth), and five of my great-grandchildren live here. I have 7 grandchildren in total, including Amanda, Elisabeth, Tiffany, Austyn, Chuka, Anujin, and Enkhee. I also have 7 great-grandchildren, and I might have two more soon, because my granddaughter Tiffany is in the process of adopting two children. I have a big and beautiful family, and they are the most important part of my life. I watch out for their health and make sure they are all educated right and have good living conditions. I'm very proud of them.
After tuna fishing for many years, I worked for Harbor Tug and Barge before retiring. I also worked for the CIA doing undercover work. At first, nobody knew it, not even my wife. We had to move to Alaska when I took my first job with the CIA. My cover was working for Shell Oil Company. I worked one week on and one week off, which meant I spent a week with my family, then went away for a week. They'd fly me away for the week to work on the Aleutian Chain. It was during the Cold War, and we were doing undercover work against Russia. I did underwater seismographs and put bombs in the sand pointing towards Russia. I worked for the CIA one more time in the 1980s. At the time, I was back to tuna fishing and working on a boat called the Margaret L. They had me take the boat to Italy, and the fish tanks on the boat were filled with bombs and weapons. From Italy, the weapons were taken to Saudi Arabia.
When it comes to advice, I'd say enjoy life, and don't do things to anger other people. Enjoy your friends and relatives and make them as happy as you possibly can.
My hopes for the future are to live a long life. I'm 95 now, so I don't know how much time I have, but I hope I stay alive and enjoy my family. I want my healthcare team to know that I am a good person and enjoy people. I enjoy life. I have a lot of friends in the neighborhood who come and talk to me and confide in me while I'm sitting outside. Some college kids, some older people. Patricia said they want to have a party for me. I try to go outside every day, just depends on the weather and how I feel. I also try to walk to the stop sign down the street every day. I recently told Patricia that I'm going to live to be 115. I'm 95, and I don't see it as impossible that I could live that long. I feel like I can. My health is good, my family is good, my living conditions are good, life is good. I guess my healthcare team should know that.
Story recorded August 11, 2023 By the VA

You loved all the great grandkids so much

No matter how big or small the accomplishment I always knew that he was proud of me and supported and lived me for my whole life. I love you love you love you poppop

My mom printed out my employee of the month for him to see

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

Dear Papa Patterson - Thank you for opening your home and making me feel welcome with your bright eyes and smile whenever I came by. My son Ian used to perform with Austyn when they were younglings. You always looked so sharp and classy when you attended the shows! From more recent times, I will remember hanging out with you and Trisha in front of the house, you wearing the same bright eyes and smile, under the canopy on sunny days, eating ice cream, shooting the breeze, greeting neighbors. May you rest in Heaven now with your forever angel Jeanette. <3

The obituary in the paper came this last sunday

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sandiegouniontribune/name/robert-patterson-obituary?id=54980528

Mr. Patterson, I enjoyed seeing you at your daughter, Patricia’s, home several years ago.  You always had a nice smile and friendly word for everyone.  RIP, love to your family (my cousins).

https://soledadmemorial.org/plaques/seaman-airman-fireman-robert-s-patterson/

Thank you for being there for us for 95 years! I love you!

Listening to his great grand daughter play the violin

with his sweet mishelle who was holding his hand when he passed

More picture to come and Im looking forward to see what other people have to share. He was a great man and we will all miss him so much. 

My popop loved being surrounded by family.

Visiting his beloved jeanette at fort rosecrans

ROBERT S PATTERSON JR

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