Herbert Parsons Patterson (September 3, 1925 – January 29, 1985), was an American banker who served as president of the

Chase Manhattan Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services holding ...

Early life

Patterson was born on September 3, 1925, at Sloan Maternity Hospital in New York City. He was the second son of Morehead Patterson and Elsie ( Parsons) Patterson (1901–1966). His elder brother was Rufus Lenoir Patterson III, a Lieutenant with the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

who was

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His parents divorced in 1929 and his mother married John Drummond Kennedy in 1934. His father was an inventor who served as president and chairman of

American Machine and Foundry American Machine and Foundry (known after 1970 as AMF, Inc.) was one of the United States' largest recreational equipment companies, with diversified products as disparate as garden equipment, atomic reactors, and yachts. History The company wa ...

. His paternal grandparents were Rufus L. Patterson Jr., founder of AMF, and Margaret Warren ( Morehead) Patterson, a descendant of

North Carolina Governor The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Seventy-five people have held the office since the first state governor, Richard Caswell, took office in 1777. The governor serves a term of four ye ...

John Motley Morehead John Motley Morehead (July 4, 1796 – August 27, 1866) was an American lawyer and politician who became the 29th governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina (1841 to 1845). He became known as "the Father of Modern North Carolina." Early and ...

of Blandwood. His maternal grandparents were

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Herbert Parsons and

Elsie Clews Parsons Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (November 27, 1875 – December 19, 1941) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist who studied Native American tribes—such as the Tewa and Hopi—in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. ...

(a daughter of British-American financier

Henry Clews Henry Clews (August 14, 1834 – January 31, 1923) was a British-American financier and author. He was an economic advisor to President Ulysses S. Grant, and a friend of Abraham Lincoln. Born in Staffordshire, England, he emigrated to the United ...

and Lucy Madison Worthington, a grandniece of President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

). After graduating from the

Groton School Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...

in 1942, he attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1948. During

, he was a junior officer in the Navy serving in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Career

In 1949, he joined

, where he spent his entire banking career. After a succession of posts, starting as an assistant manager and including assistant treasurer, vice president and executive vice president, he became president of the bank in 1968 when the previous president,

David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American economist and investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Bank, Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of ...

, also the bank's largest individual shareholder, became chairman and chief executive. Patterson was a trustee of the

National Council on Crime and Delinquency Evident Change, formerly the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), is an American nonprofit research organization. NCCD was organized by fourteen probation officers who met at Plymouth Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 17, 1907 ...

, a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

and the Mayor's Fiscal Advisory Committee. In 1972, after the bank was losing its competitive position and suffering a decline in earnings, he was replaced as president by Willard C. Butcher, and left the bank. After Chase, he served as a financial consultant to Marshalsea Associates and then as president of the Stonover Company, a financial consulting firm he founded in 1977. He also served on the board of directors of AMF, the company founded by his grandfather and which was run by his father as well.

Personal life

In July 1949, Patterson was married to Louise Sargent ( Oakey) McVeigh (1925–1968), an operatic and concert soprano, at the River Club. Louise, the widow of David Malcolm McVeigh, was a daughter of Francis Oakey of New York and The Studio in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stre ...

. Her only attended was her sister, Joan Oakey Benjamin (wife of Samuel Nicoll Benjamin), and his best man was his cousin, Casimir de Rham Jr. Louise's grandmother, Ellen ( Sargent) Oakey, was a cousin of the artist

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 15, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era, Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil ...

. Before her death in 1968, they were the parents of: * Katheryn Clews Patterson, a

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

graduate who married Thomas L. Kempner Jr., co-founder of

Davidson Kempner Capital Management Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP (often known by the short form Davidson Kempner) is a global institutional alternative investment management firm with over $36 billion in assets under management. Davidson Kempner is headquartered in New Yor ...

, in 1979. After the death of his first wife, he married

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

graduate Patricia ( Shepard) Norris (1925–2016) in 1970 at the Dana Chapel of the

Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church (MAPC) is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). It is located at East 73rd Street and Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. History The congregation was organized in ...

followed by a reception at the

Colony Club The Colony Club is a women-only private social club in New York City. Founded in 1903 by Florence Jaffray Harriman, wife of J. Borden Harriman, as the first social club established in New York City by and for women, it was modeled on simila ...

. Patricia, the former wife of Bruce A. Norris (owner of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

), was a daughter of Chester Ames Shephard of New York and

Pebble Beach Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California, United States. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a resort destination, and the home of ...

, where he was a real‐estate investor. He was a member of the

Racquet and Tennis Club The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. History The Racquet Court Club was organized April 28 ...

and the Lenox Club. Patterson died of pulmonary failure Tuesday at his home in New York City on January 29, 1985. After a funeral in New York, he was privately buried in

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 United States census ...

, where he was a trustee of the Lenox Library. After his death, Stonover, his family's estate in Lenox, was sold and today is operated as a bed and breakfast.

References

;Notes ;Sources {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Herbert Parsons 1925 births 1985 deaths Groton School alumni Yale University alumni American bank presidents