Editor’s Note:
Over the past year, I took many a bus ride in the early morning hours with Lloyd Patterson. It was usually before the sun came up and Lloyd would get on the OCTA #42 bus from Leisure World.
Lloyd would take his seat, but depending on the bus driver, he might start up a conversation. There was one he shared a particular interest in all things at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. It became apparent to me after a while that I was in the presence of an officer and a gentleman.
I remember how Lloyd was always full of youthful enthusiasm whenever a new ship arrived at the Naval Base. It was amazing at times to hear him expound on the back-story of the various ships that would be sitting at dockside.
Lloyd and I always departed the bus near Main Street and Electric Avenue. I would head to work and he would make his morning rounds. He would walk with his cane around Old Town Seal Beach and stop at Crema Café for coffee. I came to understand that he had many friends.
Lloyd seemed to consider everyone he met to be a friend. Everyone I know that ever came into contact with him described him as a nice and friendly man. That alone seems like a great honor and a testament of a life well lived.
However, as I have come to learn, there was much more to Lloyd Patterson as well. Below are some anecdotes from his family, which I hope help shine a light on this U.S. Navy officer and a fine gentleman.
-Dennis Kaiser, Sun Newspapers editor
Lloyd Patterson was of the “Greatest Generation.”
He was born on the slopes of San Pedro in 1917 and grew up alongside the children of Japanese fishermen.
His first job was as a cook’s helper on a tuna boat out of San Diego during the Great Depression. Lloyd often said the most important thing a man can do is to give another man a job, so he can feed his family. He believed the Depression was the worst thing he ever witnessed.
With war clouds gathering, Lloyd joined the United States Navy and spent Dec. 7 as a duty officer on the docks in San Pedro.
Shortly thereafter he took command of a minesweeper operating out of Pearl and arrived to four inches of sludge still in the harbor.
He had five commands in the Navy on various ships and ashore as a reservist in WWII and Korea. He witnessed nuclear bomb tests in the south pacific and joked that the greatest radiation reading was always in his bunk. Between the wars he worked selling boats.
Lloyd was married in occupied Japan where his bride, Neska, was on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff with the Red Cross.
He came to Seal Beach in 1959 and bought into the new tract on Marina Hill. He was a strong believer in community service and became a master of the Seal Beach Masonic Lodge and commander of its Veterans of Foreign Wars post.
Lloyd was most proud of his service on the Seal Beach School District board and was appointed to the Orange County Board of Education.
When Lloyd retired from his work as plant manger for Diversey Corporation he took up sailing. He went sailing almost every week with his wife until he was 85 when he shipped his sailboat from Seal Beach to Annapolis with the terse e-mail, “boat on the way.”
Lloyd was best known recently for his walks about Old Town Seal Beach.
For 30 years he visited the Seal Beach Pier and every morning, then went down to his favorite coffee shop, now know as Crema Cafe. It was there he held court and was much beloved by his friends.
Many will remember Lloyd for his sense of humor, his love for his children and grand children, his love for his many friends and his love for Seal Beach.Lloyd Patterson is survived by his three children, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
