Manford "Bud" Patterson Jr.

He attended Ardmore Schools, graduating in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps and served until August 1946, then attended the Univ. of Okla. and received a B.S. in Chemistry and an M.S. in biochemistry. He began working in the Soils Lab at The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in the summer of 1948 as an intern and by 1951 was employed fulltime.

Bud married Beverly Wilson in 1953, and their daughter Shelley was born in 1956. In 1958, he enrolled at Vanderbilt University, where he received a PhD in Biochemistry in 1962. After receiving his degree, he was asked to serve as one of two consulting biochemists for the Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense to establish and operate laboratories for the Nutritional survey of Jordan. In 1973, he was appointed V.P. and director of the Biomedical Division of the Noble Foundation and during his tenure there, he co-edited a book Tissue culture: Methods and Applications, contributed twelve chapters to scientific books, and published over sixty articles in scientific journals. He held three patents. He played a significant role in the development of the drug L-Asparaginase, which is currently used in the successful treatment of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in children.

Bud played an active role in numerous scientific organizations and served as President of the Okla. Academy of Science where he was selected its “scientist of the Year” in 1990. He was given a Distinguished Service Award for “Long Time Service to Science and Youth of Oklahoma” by the Okla. Junior Academy of Science, and served as a judge at numerous international science and engineering fairs, as well as active in establishing the Ardmore and S.E. District science fairs. He served as Chairman of the Eminent Scholars Program and the Equipment Grant Program for O.C.A.S.T., was appointed adjunct professor at OU’s School of Dentistry, and the Dept. of biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the OU Health Science Ctr. His activities in the American tissue Culture Assoc. included serving on the Board of Directors, its council, and as Treasurer and Editor-in-Chief of its journals, as well as President of the Central States’ branch of this association.

Locally, Bud served as a charter board member of Leadership Ardmore, was a member of the Ardmore Rotary Club, president of Cross Timbers Hospice, president of the Greater Southwest Historical Museum, and president of Community Nursing Services. He served as Chairman of the Carter County Board of Health and served on the Governors Committee to Combat Cancer, Oklahoma Hi-Tech, and the Governor’s Advisory board of Hospice Care. He served as President of the Southwest Section, New York Academy of Science, Council of Biological Editors, European Tissue Organ Culture Group, International Federation for the Advancement of Genetic Engineering Biotechnology, and was an elected Fellow of the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science. He was an invited speaker at the Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp., Biotech. Institute of the Univ. of Korea in Seoul, as well as an invited lecturer at the Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. Medical School of Hungary.

Following his retirement from “the Foundation,” Bud joined IMTEC Corporation as Sr. VP Research and Development, where he developed the quality control system that was approved by the F.D.A. and allowed IMTEC to market in the U.S., and won E.C. approval that allowed European marketing. He retired from IMTEC in 2003 and moved to Oklahoma City.

He loved fishing with his grandson, reading, playing golf, eating catfish, doing needlepoint, and hanging with his daughter and her husband. Words can’t express how much we’ll miss his dry sense of humor and wisdom.

Preceding him in death were his parents and only sister, Betty Lou Dunlap. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Beverly; daughter, Shelley Goetz and her husband Dan; one grandson, Manford “Ford” Goetz and his wife Julie; and numerous nieces and nephews of whom he was exceedingly fond.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to OCPA (Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs).