Mr. Claude Millard Patterson

Claude Millard “Mick” Patterson, age 96 of Rocky Mount, passed away peacefully at his home of 61 years on Friday, May 22, 2026.

A graveside service will be held at 11:00 am, Thursday, May 28, 2026 at Rocky Mount Memorial Park. The family will receive friends immediately following the service.

Mick was born on August 19, 1929, the son of Robert “Pat” Patterson and Lula Blanche Wells Patterson. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Peggy Jean Hoggard Patterson, son, Ricky Lane Patterson, and brothers, Julian Carlye Patterson, Willie Eugene “Bo” Patterson, and Marvin Ray Patterson, and sister, Louise Crickmore.

Mick was a quiet and simple man. He came from humble beginnings, being born after the Roaring Twenties and just before the Wall Street Crash in October 1929. He and his family endured the Great Depression (1929-1939), moving and living in Castalia and other locations in Nash County. Out of necessity to help his family make ends meet, Mick left school before the 6th grade to work various and sundry jobs. The lessons he learned during this era that taught him the life skills of survival lasted his entire life. One on display was the morning of April, 23, 2026, when while sitting in the Emergency Department, his daughter said “Dad, you may have to drink Boost to regain your strength, to which he replied, I think I have a coupon at home for that.”

Mick enjoyed fast cars and especially convertibles. He owned several and even lost the top of a 1949 Ford during Hurricane Hazel in 1954. Mick also enjoyed cowboy movies and would walk or ride a bicycle to the Cameo Theater on Main Street on Saturday, pay a nickel, and stay all day watching them. He even told of meeting a few movie stars, who would stop at the theaters to promote their movies, such as Lash La Rue traveling with his horse, “Black Diamond.” He recounted seeing Harry S. Truman waving from the caboose of the “Iron Horse,” and Lyndon Johnson passing by on Raleigh Road.

Even though Mick had limited education, he was very adept with facts and figures. He would sit and tell the biography of actors and actresses, reciting their birth year, marriages (often several), movies they starred in, and how and when they died. As Mick grew older, he thoroughly enjoyed the music of The Gaithers and Oak Ridge Boys. He would call and tell his daughter, Denise, the channel and time they would be on TV because each week when The Evening Telegram arrived, he would plan his daily TV itinerary.

Mick met and married the love of his life, Peggy Hoggard, on November 10, 1950, and 10 months later in September 1951, were blessed with a son, Ricky Lane, and in March 1955, welcomed a daughter, Denise. Mick was a constant provider, working jobs at a Bluebird Taxi Company, mechanic at several garages, including one that was owned by his father-in-law, Clarence Hoggard, ice plant, Maola Milk Company, Dorothy Curtain Company, but most memorable and rewarding, was with Swift Premium Meat Company. He delivered meat to small grocery stores, hospitals, and penitentiaries across Eastern NC. It was a guarantee that his family would always have an abundant supply of meat. Mick once delivered tobacco to Tennessee and missed his family to the degree that he boarded a bus the same day and returned home in the middle of the night. Mick’s lengthiest job was a car body repairman at Alan Mims Ford Company that later became Crest Ford.

One of Mick’s greatest joys was to pick up his granddaughter, Alexandria, for 11 years at Fall Road Baptist Church School. More recently, that joy was compounded by the birth of a great-granddaughter, Callie Blake. He even named himself GGP (great grandpa).

Mick was an exceptional husband, father, grandfather, and GGP. We will forever be grateful for his longevity of life and his care for his wife, as Parkinson’s Disease took her mind, and for the stability and strength we witnessed.

The assurance and peace that God has given us, most recently when asked, “Do you trust Jesus?” He replied, “yes.”

He is survived by his daughter, Denise Patterson Stone of Spring Hope (Ted), granddaughter, Dr. Alexandria Stone Luper of Nashville (Cameron), great-granddaughter, Callie Blake Luper, sister, Betty Marie Pugh of Rocky Mount, brother-in-law, Rudy Hoggard of Marion (Molly), sister-in-law, Carolyn Hoggard of Rocky Mount, sister-in-law, Mary “Puddin” Hoggard of Rocky Mount, and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank Nash Hospice for their loving care and efforts to provide comfort to Mick.