Floyd Patterson

Floyd M. Patterson of Fargo died in his home, Saturday, November 17, 2007 at age 67 of congestive heart failure resulting from a June 1, 2006 heart attack. Floyd Marlin Patterson was born July 20, 1940 in Minot, ND to Raymond and Olive (Strate) Patterson of Donnybrook, ND. The fourth of five children, he grew up on the family farm near Donnybrook. He attended a one-room country school and graduated from Donnybrook High School in 1958. He majored in electrical engineering at North Dakota State University obtaining both his BSEE and MSEE degrees there. During his undergraduate years he was awarded summer internships with Westinghouse Corporation, Baltimore, MD and Autonetics, Anaheim, CA. He also worked for IBM in Rochester, MN before pursuing doctoral studies. He studied at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City from 1964 to 1968 and later at the University of Minnesota. He joined the faculty of the Electrical Engineering department at NDSU in 1968. Throughout his teaching career of 39 years, he most often taught Digital Systems, Signal and Image Processing and Communications. He loved teaching and received the Prime Mover award from the students during his first year of teaching. In a recent tribute to him by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, it was written ?Floyd?s passion for teaching and his dedication and commitment to educating our students are an inspiration to all of us.? He has done research in image processing and neurophysiology and his current research specialty was image processing and recognition. He was an active member of AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), SPIE (Society for Photo Instrumentation Engineering), ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education), and a Life Senior Member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering). He was a founding member of the Tribal Colleges Collaborative Project at Turtle Mountain, which encouraged students in Native American communities to pursue studies in math and science. In 2006 he received a Star Quilt from that community in honor of his work. He married Betty Dahm of Fargo on August 29, 1964. They had two children, Andrea Jean and Leslie Jane. They were later divorced. Floyd loved spending time on the family farm during the summer helping his brother Clayton with the harvest. He had a large garden, filled especially with cherry tomato plants. Many people enjoyed the gifts he shared from his garden and the hundreds of rosettes he made during the holidays. He also enjoyed feeding the many birds which came to his feeders. Survivors include his daughters Andrea Patterson of Wooster, OH and Leslie (Todd Brown) Patterson of Chicago, IL; brother, Clayton (Bonnie) Patterson of Donnybrook, ND; sisters, Marlene Kay (Travis) Berry of Clovis, NM and Jill (Gary) McKenney of Eugene, OR; granddaughter, Emily Patterson of Wooster, OH; uncle, Girdell Patterson, Carpio, ND; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Shirley Patterson. Memorials are preferred to Hospice of the Red River Valley. Visitation: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 from 5 to 7 pm at Boulger Funeral Home, Fargo, ND. Funeral: 11:00 am Friday, November 23, 2007 at Boulger Funeral Home. Interment will be held at a later date at the Donnybrook Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to the care of Boulger Funeral Home, Fargo, ND.