Joseph Patton

Joseph William Patton, 68, of Grants Pass died Tuesday, May 26, 2009, at his home after a long battle with thyroid cancer. The oldest of three children, he was born Nov. 11, 1940, in Tulsa, Okla., to Mary Virginia and Joseph Dwight Patton. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, in 1966. He received a certificate for physician assistants from the University of Washington in 1985. In 2005, he was awarded the Physician Assistant of the Year by the Oregon Society of Physician Assistants. He was a co-founder of the Takilma Free Peoples' Clinic in 1973, which later became the Siskiyou Community Health Center. He worked there as a physician assistant for 21 years. He also worked part-time at La Clinica del Valle in Phoenix, Ore., for a year, and for the Josephine County Health Department from 1990 to 1995. He enjoyed traveling around the world and had visited Mexico several times. He also enjoyed watching movies. In addition to his wife, Ellie, survivors include a daughter, Elena Rivera-Patton of Mexico; a stepson, Oliver McCoy of Kosovo; a stepdaughter, Becky McCoy of Eugene; and two grandchildren.