Perry County Obituaries Mills, Patton Brown Patton Brown Mills (Pat) Aug. 15, 1924 - Apr. 16, 2006 We lost one of the "Greatest Generation" on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006, when Patton Brown Mills passed on at his home in Bakersfield, California, at the age of 81. Services with be held at 2:00 p.m., Friday, April 21, 2006, at Mish Funeral Home, 120 Minner Avenue in Oildale. Pat was born in New Augusta, Mississippi on August 15, 1924, and soon after moved with his family to Durant, Oklahoma where he was raised. Pat's father Richard Mills and mother Frances met while attending the University of Southern Mississippi, where his mother was the first woman to enroll and graduate. His father would go on to earn his law degree from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and became a prominent District Attorney and later a Judge in Oklahoma. Pat volunteered for the United States Navy soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and served three and a half years aboard the Destroyer Escort ship the USS Hammann. Pat was one of the "young ones" during the war, turning 21 years old on the day World War II officially ended on August 15, 1945. After the war, Pat returned to Durant and earned his Bachelor's degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. After graduation, Pat worked in the business office of Convair, now known as Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, Texas where their primary project at the time was to build the largest war plane of any kind, the B- 36 bomber. Pat also enlisted in the Navy Reserve at that time, and when the Korean War conflict started to develop, he was called up and served another one and a half years in Korea. After the Korean conflict, Pat began what would be a forty-five year career as an elementary and middle school teacher. Pat taught for five years in the Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas area before moving to Kern County in 1958. He taught 7th and 8th grade mathematics, ceramics, and typing at Thomas Jefferson School in Wasco, California for thirty years, and was a substitute teacher throughout the Bakersfield city schools for another ten years. Pat was very artistic, and while experimenting with the kilns used for ceramics around 1964, he developed techniques to stretch and craft bottles into art forms. "Stretching" bottles started out as a hobby, but soon turned into a nice business he operated for the next twenty years, with stores up and down the California Coast selling Pat's stretched bottles. Pat lived a great life and a full one, enjoying very good health until just recently. He was proud of his service in the United States Navy and in recent years attended World War II Navy Veteran reunions. He traveled all over the world while in the Navy, traveled extensively throughout the United States, and he golfed every day he could. He was preceded in death by his father, mother, and sister, Frances Brown. He is survived by his son, John and his wife, Kelly; his two cherished granddaughters; his sister, Dorcas Parker of Tulsa, Oklahoma, many nieces and nephews throughout Oklahoma and California, and many friends. We will all miss him, but it truly was his time. [Published in the Bakersfield Californian on 4/20/2006.] Added 22 Nov 2009   This page last updated on -- 22 Nov 2009 HOME This Site is maintained by Gene Phillips ©Genealogy Trails