James Patterson

James Thomas Patterson, 61 of Mountain Home, passed away quietly at home on June 5, 2015, with his family by his side. Jim (or Jim-Tom as his family called him) fought a noble 10-year battle with leukemia, relying upon humor and his loved ones to help in a fight he knew he wouldn't win.

Jim was born in Uvalde, Texas, on Sept. 8, 1953, to James Lancaster and Rosemary Margaret Patterson. Jim was the youngest of three children. Raised on a small farm in Georgetown, Texas, with two older sisters, Jim's lifelong gift for protecting and helping others began with tending numerous animals on the farm. One favorite was a bull named Ferdinand, who thought he was a dog. When the school bus dropped Jim off at the end of the lane, Ferdinand would meet him, and they would race back to the house.

After graduating from Florence High School in 1972, Jim moved to Idaho to attend Boise State University and enjoy the outdoor activities he loved. Idaho did not disappoint. His first year here, Jim wrote a letter home to his mother saying that the snow flakes where as big as paper plates.

During his college years, he traveled back to Texas each summer to help his father with his Petroleum business. Jim obtained his Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and was a law enforcement officer to the core. When you talk about having the blue blood of police work running through your veins, Jim had it. He loved being a Patrol Officer.

He began his career with the Mountain Home Police Department on Dec. 1, 1976, where he continued to work for 33 years. Upon his retirement on Dec. 1, 2009, Jim only had an eight-day break before beginning work as a Patrol Deputy with the Elmore County Sheriff's office, where he worked part time until his death.

Jim married the love of his life, Nina on July 12, 1986. Together, they lived in Mountain Home and raised two beautiful boys. Being Patrick and Brady's father was the single most important thing in Jim's life. As an avid hunter, he loved taking his two boys goose hunting each winter and to their favorite deer and elk camp each fall (while teaching them that what happens in hunting camp stays in hunting camp).

As a father, a law enforcement officer and a man, Jim inspired confidence through his quiet command of any situation and his easy, reassuring communication style. Always a calm harbor in the storm, his life was totally dedicated to his family, his community and the safety and well being of others.

Jim is survived by his loving wife, Nina, and their two sons, Patrick James and Brady Thomas Patterson, all of Mountain Home; his sister, Sandra Slosser and her husband David of Tomball, Texas; his sister, Marylee Sammons and her husband Duane of Boise and their two children; Thomas Sammons of Kuna; and Marijo Clark and her husband Jefferson of Boise; his special sister-in-law, Wendy Robison, and her husband Tom of Mountain Home, and their two daughters, Cortnie Krohn and her husband Josh of Mountain Home and Rachel Lamb and her husband Matt of Mountain Home; and numerous other extended family members. Jim was preceded in death by their infant daughter, Terra Marie Patterson, and his parents, James and Rosemary Patterson.

The family would like to thank Dr. Krishna Alluri and his nurse, Sharon, along with numerous other staff members at St. Luke's MISTI and the nurses on the 4 South Floor of St. Luke's hospital in Boise for their continued participation in his fight and for giving him the best care anyone could ask for. They would also like to thank Steve and Kay Burnett of Mountain Home, Idaho, and Dennis, Bobbie and Sarah Radocha of Boise for their help during Jim's last week of life, which would have been impossibly difficult without them.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 11, 2015, at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel, at 500 North 18th East St. in Mountain Home.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 2404 W. Bank Dr., Suite 103, Boise, ID 83705, or the Idaho Peace Officers Memorial Fund at 700 S. Stratford Drive, Meridian, ID 83642.