Howard Patterson

Michigan State Patterson swam for Michigan State University from 1946-1950 under Hall of Fame Coach Charles McCaffree, a former swimmer for the University of Michigan, during a winning era in the team's history. Patterson helped lead the team to four consecutive Central Collegiate Conference Championships, winning two NCAA backstroke titles at National meets. At the 1946 Big Ten Championship, he improved on the standing 150-yard backstroke record and established a new national collegiate freshman national record in the 300-yard medley relay. At Michigan, Patterson was an All-American a total of five times, and captured the conference championship in the 150-yard backstroke. He set both a national and conference record while winning the 100-yard backstroke in a league meet.

In addition to his passion for swimming and his enjoyment of golf, he was active in the Masonic Temple and the Shriners.

He retired in Bay City, Michigan and resided in Frankenmuth until eventually relocating to North Carolina with daughter Sheila where he could receive medical treatments for pneumonia and a brain stem infection at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. His daughter Sheila was a University of Michigan medical school graduate who was an emergency room Doctor, later in private practice. He died on October 28, 2000, in the Stella, North Carolina area, and was survived by two daughters. He was married to Patricia Smith in the mid-1950's. Wilkerson Funeral Home of Greenville provided his funeral arrangements, and he was buried in Bay Pines, National Cemetery in Bay Pines Florida.

Honors Patterson received the honor of being named to the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. He was made a member of the Arthur Hill Letterwinner's Hall of Fame in 1965.