Independent-Enterprise
Thursday, March 25, 1965
Brigadier General LeRoy Vernon Patch, 89, who for 62 years helped write Idaho history by outstanding achievements in many fields of endeavor, died Wednesday morning at approximately 9:15 a.m., at the Payette Valley Sanitarium nursing home following a lingering illness.
As the I-E went to press Wednesday, funeral services were pending. Arrangements are being handled by Shaffer Memory Chapel.
General Patch was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa on October 14, 1876. He married Ernestine W. Patch in Kearney, Nebraska in 1900. He is survived by his wife of Payette; sons, Vernon T. Patch of Santa Barbara, Cal., Ernest W. Patch of Payette, Allerton Patch of Payette and Oliver Patch of Payette; grandson, Donald L. Patch of Boise.
Teacher, football coach, farmer, stockman, real estate operator, cannery president, military leader, these are some of the occupations which General Patch pursued during a long, active and distinguished life-time. His military career attained him honor and acclaim.
Active in Republican politics and devoted to his community of Payette, he was the model of the good citizen and became the elder statesman, of this community.
He came to Idaho 62 years ago because his university training at Nebraska State as a horticulturist revealed to him that an orchard of apples in the Payette area would thrive better than in any other place.
He attended grade and high school in Omaha, Nebraska before entering the university. He came to Payette in 1900.
He was a life member of eight organizations and a member of six others. For 57 years he had been a member Washoe Ldg. No. 28 AF and AM, he belonged to Payette Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons; King Solomon's Council No, 4 of Payette; Weiser Commandery No. 7. El Korah Shrine, Boise; Lorraine Chapter No. 20, Order of The Eastern Star, Payette; Boise Lodge served as exalted ruler and the Society of the Sons of the Amerlcan Revolution.
Other organizations in which he has membership are the American Legion, being one of its founders when it was organized in Paris after World War I, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the 40 and 8, Veterans of World War I of the USA, the Disabled American Veterans and Kappa Sigma social fraternity of the University of Nebraska.
He was a past State commander of the American Legion. General Patch was a member of the Payette school board for several years and also served on the Payette city council for several terms.
He promoted and constructed two of Idaho's irrigation canals, the Patch Cooperative Canal in Owyhee County and the Payette Heights Irrigation Company, east of Payette.
He was Adjutant General of Idaho under two governors, John M. Haynes, 1913-1914 and D. W. Davis, 1919-1920.
He was a member of the Tenth Session of the Idaho Legislature, a candidate for nomination on the GOP ticket in 1920 for a seat in the U. S. Senate. That same year, he was a delegate to the National GOP Convention in Chicago.
General Patch's long military career is studded with accomplishments. In January 1900, he enlisted in the Second Infantry Regiment of the Nebraska National Guard. In 1902, he organized the Second Regiment of the Idaho National Guard.
He became a captain in 1902 and a major in August 1905. He was ranked as a brigadier general in the Guard by March 6, 1909, following promotions to lt. colonel and colonel in 1905 and 1906.
Gen. Patch's career in the U. S. Army began in 1916 when he joined to serve on the Mexican Border. He was presented a Croix de Guerre medal by the French Government, won under fire in World War I.
He commanded an artillery group in the battles of Marne, Aisne, Oise and Vesle during the War, as well as numerous other offensives.
After being mustered out of the Army, Gen. Patch attended the first convention of the American Legion in Minneapolis. There were 10,000 delegates. Gen. Patch was the only one from Idaho. He was the choice of a chairman for the military affairs committee of the Legion.
General Patch remained in the U.S. Army reserve until he retired at the age of 64.
In 1920, Gen. Patch was home in Payette again pressing ahead in his many business activities but he still found time to organize the Third Idaho National Guard.
He was a past president of the Payette Chamber of Commerce and a past vice president of the Idaho State Chamber of Commerce. He served as president of the Idaho Canning Company.
Numerous other experiences and honors dot the life of the past long-time leader of the Payette community. He was a marked success in the business and social life of Payette. He loved his adopted Gem State and Payette.
Volume III, History of Idaho, lists Gen. Patch as one of Idaho's most distinguished citizens and a two-page commentary covers fully his varied military and civilian life.
History of Idaho by Hiram T. French, Volume II, 1914, Page 591
Ontario Argus-Observer (Ontario, Malheur County, Oregon)
Monday, March 29, 1965
LeRoy Patch Service Held
PAYETTE - Brig. Gen. LeRoy Vernon Patch, former adjutant general of Idaho, former legislator and state commander of the American Legion, died in a Payette nursing home early Wednesday after a long illness. He was 88.
He was born in Pleasant, Iowa, October 14, 1876, and married Ernestine W. Tabor in 1899, moving to Payette in 1900.
He was a member of the Masonic lodge, York Rites Bodies, El Korah Shrine, Kappa Sigma Fraternity, American Legion, Disables American Veterans, Sons of the American Revolution, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Elks lodge.
Survivors include his wife of Payette; four sons, Vernon Patch of Santa Barbara, Ernest W., Allerton and Oliver L. Patch, all of Payette.
Services were held Saturday at the First Methodist church with the Rev. George Trobough officiating. Interment was at Riverside under the direction of the Shaffer Memory chapel. The American Legion and National Guard were in charge of military rites.
