A gentleman's passing Memorial service celebrates Floyd Patterson's life and gifts
Posted on 5-25-06

Floyd Patterson was New Paltz’s first legend, our first star. Long before reported sightings of film stars such as Robert De Niro, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman or even Aidan Quinn, Floyd was New Paltz’s treasured hero. Why? Because he was our anti-star, he lived among us and with us and exemplified the very best of what New Paltz can be. We can be larger than life, we can be tough, we can be kind, and most of all, like Floyd, we can be generous.
 Growing up in New Paltz, you’d see Floyd running along the flats, sometimes alone, sometimes with his adopted son Tracey Patterson, who he guided to a world bantamweight championship. It was easy to spot him, dressed, even on the hottest summer days, in those 1970-styled shiny, polyester boxing sweatsuits.
 And he was always available for a Unison auction, to help provide an athletic field for the New Paltz High School or facilities for SUNY-New Paltz. He was a volunteer usher at St. Joseph’s Church, always taking the time to sign autographs after the service had ended, or when on line at ShopRite.
 I would guess that like me, every child who grew up in New Paltz had a parent or guardian point out Floyd’s 17-acre farm on Springtown Road as they passed by. “That’s where the former two-time heavyweight champion of the world lives,” they’d say. And somehow, through proximity, maybe catching a whiff of sweat coming from the barn he converted into a boxing gym to help train young athletes, we’d feel proud, bigger somehow, our existence magnified beyond the corn fields and into a much larger universe. If the former heavyweight champion of the world lived here, well, hell, we must have something special.
 So it was no surprise to see the memorial service at St. Joseph’s Church last Saturday morning packed to the brim for Patterson, who passed away on May 11 at age 71, after struggling with Alzheimer’s and prostate cancer. Every facet of Floyd’s life and the people he loved or who loved him were there -- his children, his grandchildren, his wife, his boxing friends, the young boys he took under his wing who are now full grown, fathers themselves, his fellow Catholic church parishioners, political leaders like congressman Maurice Hinchey, village mayor Jason West, deputy mayor Rebecca Rotzler, town supervisor Toni Hokanson, deputy supervisor Kitty Brown, former middle school gym teacher Pearl Lee, activist Gail McGovern, real estate agent, Bob Gabrielli, Stewart Bigley of Unison, local policemen, firefighters and so many New Paltzians from all walks of life who Floyd had touched in some small or large way.
 As Father Dan O’Hare noted in the service: Floyd came from humble beginnings. He was born in North Carolina on January 4, 1935 -- one of eleven children. His family, struggling for a better life to raise their large family, moved to Brooklyn. Shortly after, Floyd started getting into some trouble. “He began playing hooky, getting into some difficulties which is what brought him to Ulster County,” said Father O’Hare. “He was unsure of himself, he didn’t love himself, he was scared most of the time, wasn’t sure who he was or what his path would be.”
 At ten years of age, Floyd was sent to the Wiltwyck School for Boys, where he began to turn his life around and discover that he did have talent and a purpose after all. “As Floyd grew up, he began to appreciate the presence of the lord in his life,” said O’Hare. “His Uncle Charlie told me that he’d often see Floyd going to church as a teenager by himself.”
 At 14 years of age, Floyd began boxing under the legendary trainer, Constantine “Cus” D’Amato. From there, his boxing trajectory began to rise and rise quickly. In 1952 at the Helsinki Olympics, Floyd won the gold medal, boxing as a middleweight. In 1956, at age 21, he became the youngest boxer to win the world heavyweight title. He also became the first boxer in history to come back after losing the title he had successfully defended four times. Patterson lost his crown in 1959 to Sweden’s Ingmar Johansson in New York.
 Father O’Hare recalled a story about that fight at the memorial service. “I get a real kick out of these sports writers,” he said. “I’m sure many of them are here right now, but I don’t really care. They write over and over again about how he was humiliated or humbled by the loss of the title or by his defeats from Sonny Liston or Mohammed Ali. How can you be humbled when you are already so humble? You are ‘humiliated’ when you are filled with ego…after Ingmar knocked him out, he looked into John Wayne’s eyes and said, ‘I feel so terrible that I let America down.’ He wasn’t thinking about himself! He was thinking about American boxing fans that believed in him and were counting on him.”
 Father O’Hare and Floyd Patterson II, as well as Congressman Hinchey, all noted that he was truly the “Gentleman Boxer” as he was often referred to by sports writers, for his attempts to pick up opponents that he had knocked down and help carry them to their corner.
 “After meeting Floyd and getting to know him I had such a hard time believing that he really made his living beating people up! How could this gentle, humble, sweet soul go around swinging at people,” said O’Hare. “But Floyd never got into a ring against anyone or to hurt anyone. He went in to use the skills and talents he had worked so hard to hone. He was there to execute his talents.
 Patterson II gave the eulogy. He thanked everyone for coming and “for loving my father.”
 “For various reasons, I didn’t have the opportunity to spend a whole lot of time with my father, but the time we did spend together was invaluable to me. When the call came that he had passed away, I felt like a torch had been passed to me to carry on his legacy. And that’s what I plan to do.”
 Patterson said that he was with his father two weeks before he passed away and while holding his hand, “a lot of the mysteries, unanswered questions, faded away. He was awake and we talked, we laughed. I even told him that there was a good possibility of a rematch with Sonny Liston!”
 He remarked that his father wrote a book in 1961 entitled Victory Over Myself. “For those of you who read it, you’ll notice that he ex’d out many of the pictures of himself in old family photos. He was unsure where he fit in the world. When people would ask him for autographs or go to shake his hand and tell him he was their hero he was always surprised. ‘Why me?’ he’d say to himself. ‘What have I done to deserve this.’ He lived with this humility every day of his life and gave generously to everyone he encountered.”
 Patterson’s eldest son recalled a night when he and his wife took his dad out for dinner. “My father excused himself to use the restroom. Well 20 minutes later, he still hadn’t come back. The food was getting cold. So I went to go look for him. There he was in the hallway talking to a bunch of fans about boxing, signing autographs. He never, ever turned anyone away who wanted an autograph or to shake his hand. I said ‘Dad, doesn’t this get to you after a while?’ and he said, “No. Never. It is because of these people that I’m where I am today.’”
 Patterson’s son also talked humorously about the challenges he faced as a young boy, even into young adulthood when people learned who he was. “So you’re Floyd Patterson’s son huh? Show me what you got! C’mon, I can take you!”
 “Well, I didn’t have what my father had. They assumed I’d follow in his footsteps. But I’m a musician. All I can say, is thank God for Tracey [Patterson, Floyd’s adopted son].”
 His son noted one particular fight they watched when his dad gave his opponent one of his classic left jabs to the chin. “He caught him real good and ended up knocking out his mouth piece. While the guy was still trying to get up, my dad signaled to him to pick up his mouthpiece and put it back in. It was a barbaric sport, but my dad always said that he went in there to win, ‘not to hurt someone so bad that they can no longer fight to help support their family.’….I want to thank you all again for coming here, for loving my father, for keeping his legacy alive and may we all try to imitate his goodness.”
 Congressman Hinchey stood up and read from a bill he sponsored that just passed unanimously in the House of Representatives honoring “The Life and Accomplishments of Floyd Patterson -- the late boxing champ who served as a role model for so many in the Hudson Valley.”
 The Hinchey resolution resolves “that the House of Representatives celebrates the remarkable life and accomplishments of a great American athlete, Floyd Patterson, who after overcoming adversity in his own life, went on to inspire others to be the same kind of leader and role model that he was throughout his life.”
 Hinchey talked about Patterson’s titles, winning 55 of his 64 fights, 40 by knockout. About how he often helped opponents to their feet and how he welcomed dozens of young men into his boxing gym in New Paltz and gave them an opportunity to learn the sport of boxing and channel their frustrations into a sport rather than on the streets.
 One of these young men is now grown, a father of five children, a born and bred New Paltz resident, a boxing trainer, the former bantamweight champion of the world and Floyd’s adopted son. “I met my dad when I was eleven,” said Patterson, as he greeted and hugged people when they left the church. “He let me hang out at the camp. The boys there were older than I was but he saw that I was anxious to try. So after a few weeks he let me start to train. I guess he saw something in me. I know I saw something in him. My mom was a single mother and ran into some trouble and needed to move back down South to get some extra support. I didn’t want to go. Floyd offered to adopt me and she agreed. He was with me from that day on. He was my dad, my trainer, my inspiration. He was beautiful and loving and always there to listen. You might not like the answer, but he’d listen and he’d tell you what he thought. And he never gave up on people. It was amazing. He’d kick some of the kids out of the camp two and three times. But they’d come back and beg for another chance, and he always gave them one. He believed in people. He wanted to see them lead good lives.”
 One thing Tracey remembered that not many people who didn’t know Floyd intimately were aware of, was his sense of humor. “He was always playing pranks on us!” he said. “We’d be at the airport, they’d be telling us to board the plane, and he’d open his briefcase, pat down his jacket, empty out his pockets and then look at me. ‘Did you bring the tickets?’ I’d say ‘No dad, you said you had them.’ Then he’d laugh and pull them out of his sleeve.”
 “If Floyd hadn’t turned Tracey into a boxer I would have turned him into a center fielder,” said Lee, Tracey’s old gym teacher. “He was some baseball player. He could spot a ball a million miles away and get to it before you could blink. But Floyd got to him before I did!”
 Tracey said he was at the hospital with his dad the night he died. “It’s been hard. That’s all I can say. It’s been really hard.”
 There are so many Floyd anecdotes, most of them about his graciousness as a fighter. But he also loved to tease. When he fought Mohammed Ali for the title, Ali beat him brutally for twelve rounds before he took him out completely. They say that Ali held a grudge against him because he refused to call him by his Muslim name. Instead he always called him Cassius Clay -- his birth name. After getting beat to a pulp by the infamous Ali, and still refusing to call him anything but Cassius, Floyd saw him at some sporting event and casually patted him on the shoulder and said, “Hi Mohammed, how’s it going?”
 His oldest daughter Seneca Patterson was there along with her sisters and brothers and various children and relatives for the memorial service and the memorial village tree planting afterwards at Hasbrouck Park that will have a plaque dedicated to The Champ. “I think this service and this tree planting has been wonderful,” she said. “My brother and the Father spoke about who he was and what he did for people. I’m so proud of what kind of legacy he has left behind for all of us. His family, New Paltz and the world. He was a wonderful father and a wonderful, gracious, generous man.”
 Bonnie Vance, Floyd’s niece, read a statement at the tree planting -- a yellow magnolia with saucer shaped cups like the Olympic disks and yellow blossoms that are bright yet brief. [The tree was donated to the Village Shade Tree Commission.] “The Patterson family will enjoy watching this tree grow big and healthy and the children of New Paltz who play here grow big and healthy. Our young people depend heavily on us. And on behalf of my uncle, who gave everything he could to young people, I would say to you, ask yourself if you are doing enough for the young people in your life, in your community? Just like this tree sinks its roots into the ground to get nourishment and grow, so too our kids sink their roots into their family and their community to grow strong. Thank you for this honor, it means so much to the Patterson family.”
 Mayor West said that while he had only had the privilege of meeting Patterson one time, he was someone he always held in high regards. “Here’s the thing about Floyd,” he said, “Once he retired and moved to New Paltz he became a member of our community first and a famous boxer second. It was the impact he had on the youth in our community and his generous spirit that he was known for. Yes, he was also a famous former heavyweight champion, but he was also a pillar in our community.”
 Alexander Steward was another of eleven siblings who lived in Warwick. He, like Floyd, began to get in some trouble. A police officer, instead of sending him to a detention home, sent him to meet Floyd Patterson at his boxing gym. “I was there with Tracey and the rest of the guys,” says Steward, there at the memorial service to honor his former trainer and role model. “He helped get my life on the right track. I started training, I dreamed of going professional. But first I entered the army. I did go pro in 1993. Now, the irony is, I work at a detention centered for troubled youth, just like Floyd. It’s funny isn’t it? How things turn out. I just loved being at his farm, training in the gym, playing with his kids. He was more than a champion boxer, he was an inspiration to kids like Tracey and me and so many others.”
 Floyd’s grandchildren helped shovel in the dirt to plant the tree. The rest of the mourners all took a handful of dirt and peat moss and tossed it into the freshly hollowed ground. People hugged, traded boxing stories, caught up with one another and smiled. Everyone, seemed to be basking, not only in the light of the late spring sunshine, but in the company of one of New Paltz’s finest, one of our great champions, one of our most inspiring role models. Floyd Patterson has passed on, but he won’t be forgotten. The village has named May 27 Floyd Patterson Day. To read the bill passed in Congress log onto Congressman Hinchey’s website www.house.gov/hinchey/ or at www.newpaltznation.com.
-- Erin Quinn

Published with permission by the New Paltz Times

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