Patric Friend was born the fourth child of William and Romilda Friend in Iron River, Michigan, September 4, 1938. The loss of his father only four years later meant the family struggled even more than many residents of that small mining town, but Patric delivered newspapers and worked at Nyburg Drug Store to help support the family, even while a student at Iron River High School. He worked as a drummer in local Michigan bands to put himself through undergraduate school, graduating from Northern Michigan University in 1961.
While an undergraduate, he met the love of his life, Thresa Kezerle, through mutual hometown friends. By 1962 they had married and moved to Chicago, where he earned a Ph.D. at Northwestern University and they began a family. After graduate school, he was assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Cincinnati Medical School until 1973, when he joined the research staff of Betz Laboratories. His work with Betz took the family to the Philadelphia area and finally Conroe, Texas, where he and Thresa lived for the rest of his life. He remained at Betz until retiring in 2000.
A massive intellect and a small-town soul, he chose the study of microbiology in hopes of finding God in the invisible at the smallest scale of life, and welcomed newcomers to his adopted hometown with deep kindness and ready connection. He valued family and neighbors above all. But everywhere he went, despite his personal modesty, people read that deep intellect and dubbed him “Professor” long after he left academia.
His wife and family were the center of his world and greatest joy. He and Thresa had five children (Barbara, Jennifer, Christopher, Gregory and Michael); two sons-in-law (Mark and Craig); three daughters-in-law (Suzanne, Michelle, and Donna); eleven grandchildren; and even one great-grandchild by the end of his life. He loved them all so very much.
A profoundly sensitive soul, he was passionate about music and poetry, reveled in his garden, and remained deeply, romantically in love with Thresa to the end of his days.
A memorial Mass will be held at Sacred Heart Church in Conroe, Texas, September 11 at 10:30 AM.
Please consider making a donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital https://www.stjude.org/ in Patric's name.
