In a wake of grief over the death of Cal Patterson, friends, colleagues, and family are warmed by the wide-reaching rays of his legacy in the Collingwood and Wasaga Beach communities.
A former mayor, volunteer and friendly neighbour, Patterson led a life dedicated to public service.
Patterson spent more than two decades as part of Wasaga Beach council, including two terms as a councillor, two as a deputy-mayor, and three terms as mayor. He was also elected Simcoe County warden during his last term as mayor.
As a municipal leader, Patterson was part of the decisions that led to Wasaga’s first municipal transit system and the construction of the Wasaga Beach RecPlex.
“Cal leaves a remarkable legacy due to his lengthy career in public office,” Wasaga Beach Mayor Nina Bifolchi said in a news release from the town. “Our community benefits each day from the vision Cal and his colleagues showed. Cal’s wife, Deb, and the rest of the family can take great pride in the role he played helping build our town.”
Fellow municipal politicians Terry Geddes and Doug Garbutt — both former Collingwood mayors — not only shared the chain of office with Patterson, but spent their lives as friends.
“He went into politics for all the right reasons – to do the greater good for other people,” said Geddes, who was mayor of Collingwood while Patterson was mayor of Wasaga Beach.
“He saw that office as one way he could help every citizen in the community,” Geddes added. “His visions were for people to co-operate together for the common good.”
But his high aspirations never took him far from the ground.
One year, during the auspicious warden’s golf tournament, Patterson’s drive sliced into the pond. Patterson, a frugal accountant, doffed his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants and waded into the pond to retrieve his ball and six others.
“He was just Mr. Down-to-Earth,” said Geddes. “When you think of Cal and all the good things in his life, it cheers you up a bit.”
It’s those good things Geddes hopes form Patterson’s legacy both inside and outside the council chambers.
“People see him as the mayor and the warden, but to those of us who knew and loved him big time, he was far more involved in terms of community and giving back than what most people are,” said Geddes, who had been friends with Patterson since they played high school football together at Collingwood Collegiate Institute. "He got loyalty and love from everybody he dealt with."
Patterson was a mentor volunteer with the Canadian Cancer Society, offering support to cancer patients after his own battles with the disease. He was a board member for the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital (CGMH).
“Cal has always been very supportive of the hospital and foundation,” said Jory Pritchard-Kerr, president and CEO of the Collingwood G&M Hospital Foundation. “Following the lead of his predecessor Mayor Walter Borthwick, Cal made a commitment to ensure Wasaga Beach made an annual, very generous contribution to the foundation’s annual equipment drives. At that time, Wasaga Beach was the only municipality to provide such support to CGMH.”
When Dr. Alyssa Boyd set out to create a charity to grant end-of-life wishes to palliative patients in the region, she reached out to Patterson for help. She said he thanked her for asking him, and jumped in as the first board member for the Living Wish Foundation.
"He had a quiet and calm demeanour, but when he spoke his words had impact," said Boyd. "Several times we would loudly banter back and forth on an issue for ages only to have Cal chime in with a polite and simple solution to whatever we were debating."
She said his network and willingness to help is what helped the foundation grant one of its first and most well-known wishes. A woman in a wheelchair wanted to dip her toes in the water at Wasaga Beach one last time. Patterson spoke with the mayor at the time to arrange a wheelchair ramp that reached the water's edge. Then he delivered a parking pass and water-friendly wheelchair.
"The icing on the cake is what marked him as a true connoisseur of the beach – he had arranged for everyone to have free ice cream at Grandma's Beach Treats," said Boyd. "No day at the beach is complete without one."
Patterson received many accolades for his volunteer and support work including the Wasaga Beach Citizen of the Year, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Order of Wasaga Beach. He was also a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.
Through all of Patterson’s decades of service and even before, Garbutt called him a friend.
“We were basically like brothers,” Garbutt said. “We kept that relationship our whole lives.”
Garbutt had a political career similar to Patterson’s, and the two were childhood friends and neighbours growing up on Ninth Street in Collingwood. Both ended up with careers in manufacturing, with Patterson working in the financial side of the business.
“We used to play a lot of hockey together. Cal was a little bit shorter than some of us, but he was one of the toughest guys on the hockey rink you’d ever want to meet,” said Garbutt.
Though he may have played a rough game, his appearance was anything but. The former mayor was known for dressing well, something that began in childhood.
“When we were kids, his mom used to put a press in his blue jeans… and he just kind of followed on from that,” said Garbutt.
His clean clothes didn’t stop him from hard work, though. Patterson often mowed his elderly neighbour’s lawn.
“As busy as he was, he would take the time to do that,” said Garbutt.
It was Garbutt who was mowing the lawn when Patterson paid him a visit a few weeks ago to deliver a load of golf balls he had discovered while cleaning his basement. Patterson thought Garbutt’s grandkids would like them for practice.
“If he had something, he’d give it to you,” said Garbutt.
Sometimes, that something was a shoulder to lean on. The two boyhood friends often talked about life’s tragedies and hardships.
“We talked a lot, and when we were done talking we’d feel better about it,” recalled Garbutt. “I’m going to miss him and I’ll be thinking about him everyday. He won’t be forgotten.”
Cal Patterson died on Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 73 years old.
Patterson was married to his wife, Debbie, for more than 30 years and the couple had four daughters, one of whom died of cancer. They have five grandchildren.
Funeral and service details for Patterson have not yet been announced.
A book of condolences is available for signing at Wasaga Beach town hall, 30 Lewis St., Monday to Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The book can be found in the main lobby.
