Frank Patton Jr.

Frank Patton, Jr., 93, born Benjamin Franklin Patton, Jr., of New York City, died on December 2, 2024. Frank was born in London, England where he resided with his family in his earliest years. The family returned to the U.S. to live in Westfield, New Jersey. Frank earned a BA from Hamilton College (Clinton, New York) in 1952, and a LLB from Harvard Law School (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in 1955. After law school, he served in the U.S. Army for two years. He and his first wife married in 1957 and raised three daughters in Manhattan. The marriage ended in divorce in 1996.

Frank married Rose Greenberg in 1996 and they shared their later years together. Frank and Rose joined All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Manhattan, where they remained active for many years.

Frank found great meaning in his work as a lawyer. Within a few years of graduating from law school, Frank realized that building a law firm was his calling and left corporate law. With his co-founders, he built and grew the law firm Ellis, Stringfellow, Patton & Leibovitz which merged later with another small firm. During the earlier years of the gay rights movement, Frank and his partners represented men who were targeted for their homosexuality. In addition to areas of general practice, Frank represented major religious institutions and individual churches over several decades. He practiced law into his early 90s and never failed to find it interesting.

In 1966, Frank and his family bought 21 acres of land in Pawling, New York. After modifying an off the shelf design, Frank built an A-frame house deep in the woods. He hand hewed oak trees to form the exposed frame of the house, using an adz that he found in a lower Manhattan junk store. In 1970, Frank wrote an article that was published in the New York Times about building the house: A Lawyer Masters Ax, Saw and Adz.

Frank loved music and writing. He played clarinet, saxophone, flute, piano, recorder, and harmonica. He led a dance band during law school. He told ridiculous stories to his daughters including one about a princess, the old family retainer, and evil Prince Sidewinder to help his youngest daughter hike a Vermont mountain. He wrote a whimsical, satirical self-published book called Boswell Persimmon and Other Tales. Frank's delightful sense of humor and affirming spirit were a joy for his family.

Frank is survived by his wife of 27 years, Rose Patton, his daughters Jennifer Patton, Martha Patton (Tom Hart), and Charlotte W. Patton, his step-daughter Belle Peterson, his granddaughters Maia Lamdany and Dina Lamdany, his brother-in-law William Johnstone, and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sister Charlotte P. Johnstone. Frank was beloved and his family misses him deeply.

(Instead of flowers, we would be grateful if donations could be made to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Manhattan.)

A service will be held at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church at 1157 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at 2pm.