Laurdine Kenneth "Pat" Patrick (November 23, 1929 - December 31, 1991) was an American jazz musician. He played baritone saxophone, alto saxophone and Fender bass and was best known for his 40-year association with Sun Ra. His son, Deval Patrick, is Governor of Massachusetts.

Career

Patrick was a long-term member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, living in Sun Ra's communal residences in New York City's East Village and Philadelphia.He also played with John Coltrane (appearing on Africa/Brass in 1961), Blue Mitchell (A Sure Thing, 1962), Mongo Santamaría ("Watermelon Man" and "Yeh Yeh") and Thelonious Monk (early 1970s). He also extensively backed Babatunde Olatunji.

Personal life

Patrick was born in East Moline, Illinois, to Laverne and Laurdine Patrick, Sr. His father (1905–2001), a native of Kansas, worked as an iron moulder at a factory at the time of his son's birth.

In February 1955, Patrick married Emily Wintersmith in Cook County, Illinois. His children with Emily are Deval Patrick and Rhonda Sigh. He had at least one child, La'Shon Anthony, outside his marriage. In 1959, a woman called for Patrick and his wife asked for a message. This precipitated the breakup of his marriage that year.

In 1960, he left Emily, Deval and Rhonda, and moved out of their apartment. When four-year-old Deval chased after him, he slapped his son and continued. "Pat" Patrick refused to sign Deval's application to Milton Academy, arguing that Deval would lose his African-American identity there. Deval, whose tuition was paid by scholarship, was accepted anyway. Deval saw his father only rarely during his life; the younger Patrick later attributed his decision to go into public service and improve the lives of others to his abandonment by his father.

In December 1965, Patrick was remarried in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Edna Jean Ballinger.

Source: Wikipedia