James Adlore Patnode

GLENS FALLS James Adlore Patnode, 69, of Glens Falls, passed away peacefully at his home in the loving arms of his wife of 13 years on Friday, July 25, 2008, after an extended illness. Born on Aug. 5, 1938, at home in Vermontville, N.Y., he spent most of his childhood being raised in the mining town of Tahawus. Jim was a very remarkable resilient and unique individual as shown in the many facets of his life. Even though he had polio at age 9 and broke his arm at 12, he still managed to play sandlot baseball and be athletic his entire life. His best friend George Cannon used to say Jim was tougher than whale bones. He started playing drums in the Newcomb School Band in the fifth grade thru his senior year. He was chosen to play drums in the New York High School State Band in Albany for four consecutive years. He later went on to play in a jazz band for 11 years during his days working in the Tahawas Titanium mines, giving up the band when he moved to Plattsburgh. He graduated from Newcomb school in 1957. During his high school years he was captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams. Jim also wrestled for the Tahawus YMCA team for two years. At age 14, he started working during summer vacations picking tobacco in Greenfield, Mass., with his longtime buddy George Cannon. He played town team and sandlot baseball and was on the town basketball team with the Dutch Boys and the town softball team. While playing with the Bloomingdale baseball team during the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was scouted out by the Washington Senators and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jim also figure skated for six years with the Lake Placid figure skating club as a member of the UFFSA. He won the dance championship in his sixth year with partner Debbie Colby, while being coached by Barbara Colby. He later joined the Plattsburgh skating club for two years while he lived there and the Glens Falls figure skating club after coming to Glens Falls in the mid-1980s. Jim coached little league for Long Lake and Plattsburgh, and in his third year at Plattsburgh the team took the city championship. In 1972, he joined the Plattsburgh Kodakan Judo Club and in his six years of training attained a first-degree black belt in Shodan. He went on to Golds Gym Body Building Team in Burlington for the next three years. He then took third place in the senior division in the state of Vermont. He later moved to this area and joined the skating club and played softball with the Tribune team. Jim then started bowling in various local leagues, winning many trophies with championship teams. He went into the New York State Amateur Bowling tour for two years, winning many matches during his 30-tour stops, winning in the money 13 times, until the tour broke up. He was also a self-taught amateur painter and former co-owner of the Docksider Restaurant in Saratoga for a short time. He always loved to travel and go on vacation with his wife of 13 years, Cheryl Vannier Patnode. Jim married Claire Jennings of Long Lake in 1958 and had four children. He later married Donna Schneider in 1983 who had three children of her own. Jim later met and became engaged to his current wife in 1990, and then he married Cheryl Vannier Dean in 1995 and acquired three more stepsons. As a young man he had worked in the Tahawus Mines for 13 years, then went on the V.S. Gerry's in Plattsburgh for 10 years as the computer office manager. He then moved to Burlington, Vt. for six years as head of the computer department for Green Mountain Power Co. Jim then moved to this area and worked for Tribune Co. and T.V. Data as the computer programer for the next 18 years. He retired in 2001 to become the caregiver for his ailing wife, Cheryl, during her illness with breast cancer. Jim loved to go out to coffee daily with his wife and for car rides. He used to like to go on vacation and just follow the radiator cap. He once said that "when he liked to do something, he really liked to do it with all his might." He had many other interests and had a great philosophical side. Besides being a loving husband, stepfather, and companion he was truly a man's man. Although he is no longer sitting on his couch, he will always be loved and remembered for his genuine sincerity, wisdom and gentle loving personality. Jim was preceded in death by his mother, Olivina Amell Patnode and his father, Adlore "Benny" Patnode. Jim is survived by several grandchildren including newborn Edison Cale Dean, several nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his wife, Cheryl Vannier Patnode and her three sons: James Dean of Fort Edward, Kevin Dean of Albany and Christopher Dean and his wife, Amy and baby Edison of Virginia. He is also survived by four children by his first marriage: Danny and his wife of the Syracuse area; Ann and her husband, Tom Lester, of Louisiana; and daughters Barbara and Jane Patnode of Tupper Lake and several grandchildren. Jim is also survived by his sister, Erma and her husband, Kenny Helms, and their children of Newcomb, his sister Joan and her husband, Bill Minkler of Malta and their daughter, Letichia; and his aunt Jean Amell and several nieces, nephews, cousins and grandchildren. Jim's last wishes were to give a special thanks to High Peaks Hospice, Dr. Donald Merrihew and the Greater Adirondack Home Health Aides, especially Julie Duell and everyone who has helped ease his journey and transition. He wanted to thank Lynn Mykins, a friend and nurse who pulled him through some tough time in the early days of his illness and has remained a friend throughout. Another special thank you to all the lovely visitors that were provided by Hospice. A very extra special thank you with love goes out to his sister, Joan Minkler and her husband Bill for all they have done for him including all the delicious meals that Bill had prepared for us, especially his magnificent macaroni and cheese that Jim never tired of. Thank you both for the attention and affection shown and lavished upon him especially during his last difficult year. Your weekly visits brightened his days and your mid-week phone calls lifted his spirits more than you will ever know. Without you two special people, he would not have gone on as long as he did. As his last request Jim had given and anatomical gift of his body to Albany Medical College in Albany, N.Y. Burial will be private and at a later date. Family and friends are invited to remember Jim at an open house at his home in Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008, from 2 to 4 p.m.