By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
As his legion of friends would attest, L. Brooks Patterson liked a good laugh, even at his own expense.
His wit and sense of humor were trademarks of a personality that was of the “one of a kind” variety, according to those who admired and respected the longtime Oakland County Executive, who died Saturday of pancreatic cancer at age 80.
Farmington Hills attorney Jeff Leib, a classmate of Patterson’s at the University of Detroit School of Law in the mid-1960s, played a key role in one particular episode that tickled the funny bone of his longtime friend to the very end.
“The time period was during the Clinton White House years in the late 1980s,” recalled Leib, who was a former colleague of Patterson’s at the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office. “Brooks and I were playing golf together with his twin brother, Steve, and his brother-in-law, Tim. I was in the golf cart with Brooks and Steve and Tim were together.
“While I was sitting in the cart, Brooks’ cell phone rang,” Leib related. “I answered his phone. The voice on the other end asked where Brooks was. I said: ‘You want to know where Brooks is, he’s in the sand trap! Who’ this?’”
The caller, apparently unmoved by Leib’s flip comment, responded simply: “George Bush.”
As in the 41st President of the United States.
“President George H.W. Bush was personally calling Brooks, and I, as a smart ass, told him he was in the bunker,” Leib sheepishly recalled.
Fortunately, said Leib, “We all had a good laugh, and it’s a story Brooks and I shared often.”
Of course, Patterson knew when to turn serious, whether over the course of his four terms as Oakland County Prosecutor or during his 26 years as the county’s chief executive. His brilliance and his brashness were alternately on display, friends and political foes alike could agree. Oakland County Circuit Judge James Alexander, a member of the bench for the past 18 years, was the Republican county chairman when Patterson was first elected county executive in 1992.
“Although we had a relationship before that, it grew exponentially over the next few years,” Judge Alexander said. “Of every candidate I’ve worked with ... from Presidents to city councils ... Brooks was the quickest study I ever knew. You could prep him for 5 minutes and he’d be an expert. Of course, his attention span was 5 minutes,” Alexander quipped.
“In 1995 we were unsure if Governor (John) Engler would seek a third term and began the prep work for a Patterson candidacy in 1998. At the Biannual Republican Mackinac Conference, we had Brooks deliver a straight policy speech ... no jokes, just serious policy — that he was great at. Later that night I was ‘accosted’ by most of the political media covering the conference. Their message was that I was nuts and I should ‘let Brooks be Brooks.’
It was a message well taken, Alexander acknowledged.
“The next morning Brooks began his speech, ‘I follow Betsy DeVos so if she drops a diamond I can pay for my kids’ college education.’ And Brooks was back to being Brooks.”
Which, of course, was a character trait that he sported from his boyhood in Detroit, where his father worked for Chrysler, the giant automaker that years later would move its corporate headquarters to Oakland County. The company’s decision in 1992 to leave its longtime headquarters in Highland Park came at a time when Patterson was just beginning his tenure as Oakland County Executive.
As leader of the county, Patterson would make it his chief business to bring business to the Detroit suburbs.
“Like my former boss John Engler, (Brooks) set the goal, hired good people to attain it, and stayed the hell out of their way,” said Alexander, who counted Patterson as a mentor and a friend.
“And now we know that the ‘L’ stands for — Legend,” proclaimed Alexander.
One of three children, Patterson grew up in Detroit’s Rosedale Park neighborhood and graduated from University of Detroit High School, later earning his bachelor’s degree in English from the U of D. From there, he would have a brief career in teaching at Detroit Catholic Central before serving in the U.S. Army from 1962-64.
Following his military service, Patterson enrolled in law school at his alma mater, where he crossed paths with Gordon Snavely, a classmate who would become a successful probate and estate attorney in Oakland County.
“Everything for him was about the betterment of Oakland County,” Snavely said of Patterson. “When he made a decision, it was done on the basis of ‘what’s in the best interest of the county’ regardless of what others outside the county thought.
“He was fearless. He was our cheerleader. He was truly an Oakland County patriot,” said Snavely, who has long served as chair of the county’s Claims Review Committee. “Under his visionary leadership, our county became one of the most respected counties in America for its sound management practices.
Yet, even his staunchest supporters knew that Patterson wasn’t universally “liked,” due in large part to his outspoken ways that often rubbed those in neighboring counties the wrong way. Still, Patterson’s smarts and political savvy helped make him a “bigger than life figure who changed Oakland County for the better,” according to Gerald Fisher, a retired law professor who currently serves as chair of the Oakland County Parks and Recreation Committee.
“I met Brooks in the early 1970s when I was a law clerk in the Oakland County Circuit Court,” said Fisher, a property law expert. “He was finishing his career as an assistant prosecutor – before he ran and won as ‘the’ prosecutor. He tried three successive murder cases in my court, and won them all. I called it the ‘Hat Trick.’ He could have become a premier private trial lawyer, and would have made a fortune. We’re lucky he took the path toward public service.
Patterson will be succeeded in office by Gerald D. Poisson, chief deputy executive, who called his predecessor “a once-in-a-generation leader whose vision inspired all of us to be part of the best county government in America.”
Poisson will take the oath of office to serve as county executive until either the Oakland County board of commissioners appoints a successor within 30 days or a special election is held as provided by law.
Patterson is survived by his son Dr. Dayne (Heather) Rogers of Davisburg; daughters Mary (Gary) Warner of Clarkston and Shawn Sutherland of Waterford; daughter-in-law Jessie (Charlie) Damavoletes of Waterford; former wife Kathy (Bruce) Patterson of Clarkston; 11 grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
His son Brooks “Brooksie” Stuart Patterson preceded him in death in a tragic snowmobile accident in 2007. Patterson also was predeceased by his twin brother Stephen, sister Harriett Hayden, and nephew Timothy Hayden, all three of whom died of cancer.
Memorial donations may be made to The Rainbow Connection, a Rochester-based organization Patterson founded to grant wishes to seriously ill children. To date, The Rainbow Connection has granted more than 3,500 wishes.
A public viewing of L. Brooks Patterson will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 6 from 1-7 p.m. at the Conference Center of the L. Brooks Patterson Building, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road, in Waterford.
Visitation is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 14 from 3-8 p.m. and Thursday, Aug. 15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Woodside Bible Church — Troy Campus, 6600 Rochester Rd., between Square Lake and South Boulevard.
The funeral service will take place on August 15 at 1:30 p.m. in the church. The funeral is open to the public. A burial with full military honors will be private. Coats Funeral Home in Clarkston is handling the arrangements.
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