Obituaries
Obituaries
Tuesday, March 13, 2007; Page B07
Robert Joseph PattersonCartographer
Robert Joseph Patterson, 87, a cartographer with the old Army Map Service, died March 3 of pancreatic cancer at Brook Grove Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Sandy Spring. He was a longtime resident of Takoma Park.
Mr. Patterson was born in Lawrence, Mass., and worked in textile mills while attending what is now the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
During World War II, he served in the Army Corps of Engineers and met Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower while assisting in the mapping preparations for the D-Day invasion in 1944. He later served in France and Germany.
Mr. Patterson moved to Washington in 1945 to work as a cartographer with the Army Map Service, now the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He retired in 1983. In retirement, he participated in the Association of Mapping Seniors.
He lived in Takoma Park from 1946 to 2003 and helped lead a successful effort in the 1970s to defeat plans for a highway project that would have damaged Sligo Creek Park and adjacent neighborhoods.
Mr. Patterson enjoyed reading. He was also a devoted fan of the Washington Redskins and, for many years, visited the team's preseason training site in Carlisle, Pa.
Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Marianne Patterson of Leisure World in Silver Spring; four children, Paula A. Mack of Tucson, James A. Patterson of Silver Spring, Eleanor T. O'Donnell of Rockville and Andrea C. Edwards of Benicia, Calif.; nine granddaughters; and five great-grandchildren.
Rick HamiltonReal Estate Developer
Claude Ricardo "Rick" Hamilton, 70, a real estate developer and community leader in Southern Maryland, died March 7 at Charlotte Hall Veterans Home. He had Alzheimer's disease.
Mr. Hamilton, a longtime resident of Waldorf, began his real estate career in 1964 and founded Delta Realty Inc., in 1967. He worked as a real estate broker and developer of dozens of commercial and residential projects, primarily in Southern Maryland.
He was a licensed real estate appraiser and was sometimes called on to testify as a real estate expert in courtroom proceedings. He served on many local and state commissions and helped design the comprehensive zoning plan for Charles County, adopted in 1974. He was a member of the committee that developed a zoning plan for Waldorf and also served 10 years on the Charles liquor license board. He retired in 2005.
Mr. Hamilton was born in Washington and was a graduate of La Plata High School. He served in the Air Force in the 1950s and was a 1963 graduate of the University of Maryland. He attended American University's law school.
He was active in community service throughout his life and was president of the Waldorf Lions Club and the Charles Chamber of Commerce. In the 1990s, he was responsible for securing and purchasing a 320-acre site for Lions Camp Merrick, a camp for disabled children in Nanjemoy.
