On this date in 1934, Robert Eugene Patterson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the only son of Ann (Stumfoll) and William Patterson. He became an Eagle Scout and graduated in 1952 from Raytown High School. He had attended church with a neighbor until age 17, when he began to question the existence of a God and soon rejected all religion.
After briefly attending the University of Kansas, Patterson joined the U.S. Army, serving as an electronic specialist on the Nike missile system at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He married Mary Ellen Campbell in 1960. They had two sons, Stephen (b. 1963) and Carter (b. 1965).
He co-founded MPH Industries, where he applied microwave engineering skills acquired during his Army service to develop several pioneering police radar speed guns. He subsequently established his own electronic contract manufacturing business, Progress Instrument, in Lee’s Summit.
Patterson was an avid private pilot who greatly enjoyed sport aviation and owned several planes. Later in life he discovered the joys of parrots and became the proud owner of two blue and gold macaws.
He was a longtime member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and treasurer of the Kansas City Community of Reason. He died at age 90 in Atlanta and was buried next to his parents in Kansas City. (D. 2025)
