Roger M. Patches

1933 - 2020

Roger M. Patches

East Manchester Twp. - Roger Merrill Patches, 86, died at 10:28 am Monday June 8, 2020 at his residence. Born November 28, 1933 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, he was the eldest son of the late Jacob Henry and Elsie Amanda (Miller) Patches. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joan Edith Habecker Patches, to whom he was married on Christmas Day, 1961. He is also survived by three sons, Adrian and Eric, of Mount Wolf, Pennsylvania, and Craig, of Bronx, New York; brother John Ira Patches and his family in Los Angeles, California.

He spent his early childhood years from 1937-1940 and also 1946 in Lima, Peru, as his father was a textile manufacturing process engineer who was employed to establish assembly lines and train laborers in newly established textile factories in Lima. The family returned and remained stateside from 1946 onward. After graduating from Manheim Township High School in 1951, he spent some time working for the family business—a service center, soda fountain, and convenience store located in Neffsville, PA—and also enlisted in the National Guard from 1952 to 1954. He was motivated to serve others and the community, and so entered Gettysburg College in 1954 to study Bible and Religion, with the goal of becoming a Lutheran pastor. In 1958, he graduated Cum Laude from Gettysburg with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and Religion, and also received the Nicholas Prize in Religious Studies for outstanding biblical scholarship. His post-graduate studies were completed at the Harvard Divinity School, where he received his Master's degree in Sacred Theology, 1962. In that same year he entered the parish ministry for the Lutheran Church in America, and served as pastor for three different parishes in the Central Pennsylvania Synod before transitioning to work for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in 1973, where he worked as a counselor and later director of the York Community Corrections Center, 317 West Market Street. He was an active and devoted member of Christ Lutheran Church of York from 1979 through the end of his life; he also served as part-time Parish Visitor for shut-in and homebound members of the congregation from 1989-2003. His interests included amateur photography, traveling within the United States and around the world, reading about science and technology, astrophysics, nuclear physics, automotive design and mechanics, theology, and a deep devotion to social justice.

Following cremation, a memorial service at Christ Lutheran Church, 29 South George Street, York, will be held at a later date in accordance with the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and the facilitation of out-of-state family travel. Private burial will be in Zoar Lutheran Cemetery, Mount Zion, Lebanon County. Kuhner Associates Funeral Directors, Inc., 863 South George Street is in charge of arrangements.

Memorial contributions may be made to any or all of the following organizations: The American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org; The Alzheimer's Association, www.alz.org; Black Lives Matter, www.blacklivesmatter.com; Christ Lutheran Church, 29 South George Street, York, PA, 17401; Hospice & Community Care, 235 Saint Charles Way, Suite 250, York PA 17402 www.hospicecommunity.org; or The Southern Poverty Law Center, www.splcenter.org.

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