HAMPSTEAD — Clifton Benjamin “Dink” Patten, 83, passed away Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019, at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
Clifton was born July 12, 1936, in Duplin County to the late Robert Clifton Patten and Eva Mae Burton Patten.
Clifton was raised in Wrightsboro. He was a graduate of New Hanover High School. He was a proud veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he retired as a senior master sergeant. After his retirement, he and his family moved to Hampstead.
He was a member of Hampstead United Methodist Church, Orient Lodge No. 395 A.F. & A.M., where he held the distinction of past master, serving in 1994 and 2015; and a member of Wilmington Scottish Rite Temple, where he held the distinction of 33rd Degree. Clifton was a member of the Sudan Shrine Center and the Sudan Drum and Bugle Corps. He was a member and past patron of Cape Fear Chapter No. 346 Order of Eastern Star.
Clifton is survived by his wife of 62 years, Lorraine Perkins Patten; two daughters, Elisabeth Lorraine Patten-Fitzgerald, and her spouse, Timothy, and Carmen Lynette Golden, and her spouse, Joseph; grandchildren, Christopher Lyn Criswell, Clifton Lee Criswell, Jonathan Adam Hester, Stephanie Lorraine Fitzgerald and Emily Anne Fitzgerald; great-grandchildren, Miranda Paige Criswell, Clifton James Criswell, Lillian Jean Register, Zacchery Aaron Hendrickson and Zoey Erin Henderickson; sister, Mary Ann Jones; nieces and nephews; and extended family members. He was preceded in death by a sister, Barbara Mae Patten Burgess.
Visitation for family and friends will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 7, at Wilmington Funeral Chapel. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, Nov. 8, at Wilmington Funeral Chapel with U.S. Air Force Military Honors and Masonic Memorial Honors.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Shriners Hospitals for Children or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Share online condolences with the family at Wilmington Funeral & Cremation.
