John Allan Paterson Obituary
J. Allan Paterson, majored in Industrial Engineering and was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity beginning at Stanford as a Freshman in 1942. With the U.S. involvement in the war, he applied and was accepted as an officer in the United States Military Academy at West Point and after World War II, returned to Stanford graduating with the class of 1949. Paterson served in the military for 42 years, becoming a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force. “Allan”(as he preferred to be called) Paterson had a life of service beyond the Air Force. He was a Washington County Commissioner in Oregon, where he built homes, was a General Contractor, Real Estate Broker and Developer and lived in Oregon until 1994. Then he moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and was on the Planning Commission and a Golf Marshall at tournaments on the Monterey Peninsula, including the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Mr. Paterson was a visionary when it came to building homes. During the 1960s he insisted on burying electric lines for the aesthetics and beauty of the residential communities he designed and built in the Portland, Oregon and surrounding areas. His homes were works of art, and all different, not copycat tract homes. Allan possessed a passion, an innate talent and intelligence to create, fix and figure out almost anything. He was ahead of his time, creating Leron Heights Interceptor in the rural outskirts of Tigard, Oregon.
General Paterson was a pilot, and loved to travel. He and his wife were able to see most of world, from New Zealand, to the Caribbean, China, and all over Europe.
General Paterson was impeccably dressed, neat, meticulous and organized. Whether it be in his military uniform on active duty, working outside or as a business man in his Brooks Brothers suits and ties he was the quintessence of sartorial splendor. Yet, at the same time, he was one of the hardest workers, rolling up his sleeves and doing whatever job needed to be done, a leader and an individualist.
General Paterson was impressively able to accomplish all this, hands on building and creating, plus be in the Air Force Reserve, one week out of every month. He was a super involved and devoted husband and father to two daughters.
Truly amazing about Allan was his integrity. Brigadier General John Allan Paterson was an honest and fiercely loyal person to his country, communities he lived in and family. He climbed Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood with his eldest daughter, Leron. The Paterson family loved to hike, ski and had a cabin in Wildwood, near Mount Hood in Oregon. Allan loved jazz music and sports. When he was in high school in Portland Oregon, he played piano in a jazz band and also played on the Lincoln High School football team.
He was married to Dolores Trout Paterson for 68 years who preceded him in death July 14, 2019. He is survived by daughters: Leron and Allaire and one grand-daughter, Chloe. General Paterson died at 97 years old, at his home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California of natural causes, surrounded by daughters.
It is always difficult saying goodbye to someone we love and cherish. Family and friends must say goodbye to their beloved John Allan Paterson of Carmel by the Sea, California, born in Portland, Oregon, who passed away at the age of 97, on January 28, 2022. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. "Now, cracks a noble heart...Good night sweet Prince and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" -Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Thank you.
