The Life of Mr. Virgil Gibney Patterson
- Gibney Patterson, loving husband, father, and mentor to many, of Fairfield, CT, died on July 23, 2019, after a long life well lived. Gib was born in Bridgeport, CT and raised in Black Rock, CT, the son of Dr. Daniel C and Marian Patterson. He graduated from the Kent School in Kent, CT and went on to earn a degree in engineering from Yale University in 1944. Following graduation from Yale, he married Cynthia Mckee of Belmont, MA. He worked for the Southern New England Telephone Company, and then Dwight Building Co. prior to purchasing Tomlinson & Hawley General Contractors, later the THP Group. Cynthia, his wife of fifty-seven years died in 2001. He married Anne Stoddard Finnie in 2003. Gib was a construction man. THP built numerous industrial, institutional and church buildings during his ownership. He was very involved in the business community, serving as president of the Bridgeport Rotary where he received the Paul Harris Fellow recognition, and on the boards of the Associated General Contractors of CT, various organized labor health and welfare boards; The Bank Mart; and the Pequot Library. He had a lifelong love of Yale football, the outdoors, sailboat racing, skiing, and cutting firewood on his woodlot. He enjoyed much success racing Atlantics, later Bullseyes, and only stopped ocean racing when old age and the boat he raced on, Seguin, stopped racing. He loved skiing Mt. Mansfield in Stowe, VT where they owned a home for many years. Previously unknown chairlift companions were often brought home for cocktails, and houseguests had to endure rigorous bushwacking cross country adventures in the woods around Stowe. Evenings were spent destroying anyone who wanted to step up to the backgammon board. He was a former member of the Country Club of Fairfield and the Pequot Yacht Club. Gib was predeceased by his first wife, parents, and sister, Gail Patterson Shafer. He is survived by his wife Anne; sons Cleveland and his wife Virginia of Port Charlotte, FL; Mckee and his wife Margeretta of Castine, ME; and daughter, Sarah Flagg Patterson Bartlett of Saratoga Springs, NY. He leaves five grandchildren, Sara Lacasse of Lake Forest, IL; Abigail Patterson of Wilmington, DE; Hartley Pollard of Saratoga Springs, NY; Myles Arnowich of Fairfield, CT; and Gibney Patterson of New Milford, CT, and their families which include eleven great grandchildren. The family will forever be indebted to the wonderful care he received from Zita Balough, Rosanna Kozer, and Eloisa Correa. They made the last year of his life a pleasant one, and he thoroughly enjoyed their company and teaching them the winning ways of backgammon. The funeral service will be held at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 4670 Congress St, Fairfield, CT on August 9, 2019 at 3:00PM. In lieu of flowers, donations in Gibney’s memory may be made to The Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Ave, Southport, CT, or CT Audubon Society, 2325 Burr St, Fairfield, CT.