Robert Ellmore Patterson

Robert Ellmore Patterson of West Palm Beach, Florida and Fishers Island, New York died on February 17, 2026. He was born in New York City on March 15, 1945, the third of five sons of Anne Hyde and Ellmore C. Patterson. He grew up in Bedford, New York where he attended the Bedford Rippowam School. He then graduated from The Choate School, Harvard College, and Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, he worked for several years at Gaston Snow & Ely Bartlett. In 1978, he joined the Massachusetts Office of State Planning as Deputy Director where he worked on the plans for Boston's Big Dig and Copley Mall. He was appointed the first Executive Director of the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency which later became MassDevelopment.

Upon rejoining the private sector in the mid-1980s, Bob was a founder of Cabot Advisories, Cabot Real Estate Investment Trust, and Cabot Partners, an international private equity firm specializing in industrial real estate. He served for many years as a trustee of the Putnam Funds and of the Rockefeller Funds. He was also a trustee of the Joselin Diabetes Center in Boston for twenty-five years and served as its Chairman for ten.

Bob's great passion was sailing, and he spent much time travelling the world on his three sailboats, all named Runaway Bunny. He particularly loved sailing the Mediterranean from one end to the other with friends and family. Additionally, from the age of 5, he spent many of his summers on Fishers Island, NY with his parents and brothers. When he married, he built a house on Fishers Island that he continued to enjoy until he passed. He loved sailing around the island and to neighboring harbors on weekend excursions.

He is survived by his former wife, Jane Manopoli, his two daughters, Christina Hyde Patterson, of Chicago, Illinois and Diana Choate Patterson of St. James, New York, two grandsons, four brothers, Michael, Arthur, David and Thomas Patterson, and numerous nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at Arlington Street Church on April 17, 2026, at 11am. All are welcome to attend.