Alson Currie Patton, Jr.

Patton. Alson Currie Patton Jr. ~ July 27, 1995

PATTON. Alson Currie Patton Jr., 98, a longtime Worcester, Mass., resident and retired actuary and mathematician, died July 26, in Worcester, Mass. Born April 1, 1897, at Bells, Tenn., Mr. Patton was the third of nine children of Alson Currie Patton Sr., and Minerva Lavinia Brigance. He attended Liberty Hall and Jones Elementary Schools and in 1913 graduated from Bells High School. At age 16 he taught alone in a one- room Crockett County, Tenn., school, covering everything from kindergarten to geometry. He entered the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, aided in part by a loan from a local storekeeper. (Years later, Mr. Patton was influential in securing a scholarship at Yale University for his benefactor's grandson, graduate of a small Mississippi high school.) As required then of all able-bodied students taking regular courses, Mr. Patton trained in the University of Tennessee's ROTC, and attained the rank of sergeant major. He was stationed at Fort Sheridan Army Base for about three months. In 1918 he transferred to the U.S. Navy and was accepted by the Great Lakes Naval Training School, where he achieved the rank of ensign. He remained in the U.S. Naval Reserve until 1922, the end of his enlistment. At the University of Tennessee, he majored in history and mathematics, and graduated summa cum laude in 1920. From Knoxville, he entered Yale University's Graduate School, as both student and Graduate School instructor in mathematics. While working toward his doctorate, he received his Master's degree in 1922. Mr. Patton and another instructor, W. Leonard Crum, organized and taught a course in economic statistics, the first such course to be offered at Yale. The two men co-authored a textbook, Economic Statistics, for use in their classes. Later the book was enlarged and adopted at several other colleges. His wife, the former Pauline Williams, predeceased him this past January in La Jolla, Calif., where she was visiting their youngest daughter. Surviving are a son, John Ellis Patton of Acton, Mass.; three daughters, Priscilla Candace Patton of Denver, Colo., Janet Patton Gardiner of Miami, Fla., and Carolyn Patton Detwiler of La Jolla, Calif.; a sister, Florence Patton Wood of Tupelo, Miss.; nine grandchildren; and four great- grandchildren He was the brother- in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Granniss of West Hartford. Services will be Saturday, July 29, 1 p.m., at Asylum Hill Congregational Church Chapel. Interment: 2:30 p.m., at Cedar Hill Cemetery, with the Rev. Mr. Peter Grandy officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of one's choice.

Source: http://articles.courant.com/1995-07-27/news/9507270240_1_mr-patton-...

Alson Currie Patton
1856–1946

Mary Levenia Brigance Patton
1877–1963

Spouse

Pauline Williams Patton
1903–1995

Siblings

Russell Homer Patton
1894–1980

Marion Lofton Patton
1898–1990

Ben C Patton
1900–1959

Wiley F. Patton
1912–1994

Florence Helen Patton Wood
1913–2000

Children

Priscilla Candace Patton
1927–2010

Janet W Patton Gardiner
1935–2018

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57160387/alson-currie-patton