Bob Patterson

Bob Patterson of Park Avenue in Dunkirk earned 10 letters in five sports – football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis – before graduating from Dunkirk High School in 1963. He was a First Team All-Star his senior year as a guard in basketball and a quarterback in football. DHS won the lake shore basketball title in 1962 when the Marauders were unbeaten Little Three champs. Bob capped his football career with a three-touchdown performance in a 28-7 win over Fredonia. In track he was unbeaten in dual competition in the 880 as a junior. He played first singles on the DHS tennis team for two years and was a second baseman on the DHS championship baseball team of 1961.

After a year at Brockport State, where he was quarterback and punter on the football team, a guard with the basketball squad and a member of the varsity tennis team, Patterson spent three years at Fredonia State, graduating in 1969. He earned varsity letters in soccer, basketball and tennis as a Blue Devil.

Youth Bureau Director for the City of Dunkirk since 1978 and the Director of Recreation since the early 1980s, Bob was a drummer for three local rock and roll bands – “The Velvetones,” “The Penetrations,” and “The Heard.”

A longtime participant in Dunkirk adult city league teams, Bob was the Most Valuable Player on the 1966 Koch’s Brewery team that won the AA League men’s basketball title. He played on championship basketball teams with Brothers II, Army National Guard and the First Ward Falcons in the 1970s. He also quarterbacked the Columbus Club to city Touch Football League titles. He began his fast-pitch softball career with the Peanut Café and earned a pair of all-star outfield selections with Wuerstle’s Tavern. Bob helped introduce slo-pitch softball to the Dunkirk Recreation Program in 1979 and pitched Norm’s Brass Rail to league titles.

His high school coaching career began with the Dunkirk High School football team in 1968 and included two years as head coach at Morrisville Eaton High School and two years at Susquehanna Valley High Scholl in Binghamton, playing against Southern Tier powerhouses Ithaca, Vestal and Union-Endicott.

A certified basketball official for 15 years, Patterson also officiates recreational leagues in softball, football, basketball, and floor hockey.

For years Bob has been one of the top competitive racquetball players in the area. He’s also an avid runner and director of several tournaments and festivals, all the while directing one of the most successful youth/recreation programs in Western New York.

Bob and his wife, Patricia, have a daughter Lisa, 6, and a son Shawn, 4. Bob’s son Trevor is a senior at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He is a ski resort supervisor and competes on the professional ski-board circuit.