It is with a heavy heart we must con­firm that Capt. Michael Pat­ter­son of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., passed away on Decem­ber 9th. The fam­i­ly will accept vis­i­tors at the St. Stephens Parish Hall in Port Huron, Mich., on Sat­ur­day Decem­ber 17 from noon until 4 p.m., with a eulo­gy ser­vice at 1 p.m.  All are wel­come to attend and share mem­o­ries.  Updates on a cel­e­bra­tion of his life will be held in Sault Ste. Marie at a lat­er date and will be pub­lished by Hov­ie Funer­al Home, Sault Ste. Marie, at www.hoviefuneralhome.com.

Mike was a senior tug­boat cap­tain for The Great Lakes Tow­ing Com­pa­ny; one of the lucky few who spent his life doing the thing he real­ly loved.  It was more than a career — it was who he was, and what he had want­ed to be since child­hood.  After work­ing for var­i­ous com­pa­nies, he proud­ly spent the last 29 years of his career aboard the Tow­ing Com­pa­ny’s “G” tugs, most notably the Tug MISSOURI at the Soo.  He worked in the port of Detroit for many years before trans­fer­ring to Sault Ste. Marie in 2000.

Mike was born in 1957 in Marysville, Mich.  After grad­u­at­ing from Marysville High School in 1975, he enlist­ed in the U.S. Army and served in the 82nd Air­borne Divi­sion, 75th Ranger Reg­i­ment, as well as the 7th Spe­cial Forces Group, until his hon­or­able dis­charge in 1978.  He mar­ried his high school sweet­heart, Angela Troy, on Nov. 11, 1978.  They had two chil­dren, Sean and Kelli.

Dur­ing his life, Mike was a record-set­ting swim­mer, a skilled and coura­geous tug­boat cap­tain, a mem­ber of the Army Spe­cial Forces; an Air­borne Ranger, scu­ba div­er, snow­mo­bil­er, dirt bike rid­er, faith­ful son, car­ing father, lov­ing hus­band, Jeep enthu­si­ast, union mem­ber, West­ern movie buff, leader, men­tor, ani­mal lover; a val­ued neigh­bor and beloved friend, and a great Tug­boat Philoso­pher.  Mike is sur­vived by his moth­er, Mar­jorie Pat­ter­son of Marysville, broth­er Scott of Smith Creek, sis­ter-in-law Pam Pat­ter­son of Port Huron, wife Ang­ie and son Sean of Sault Ste. Marie, daugh­ter Kel­li of Fer­n­dale, Aunts and Uncle Bob and Eva Philips of Port Huron, and Kay Force of Marysville, Moth­er & Father In-Law Robert and Patri­cia Troy of Marysville, Broth­ers and Sis­ters In-Law Robert (Joan) Troy, Jeff (Pat­ty) Troy, Mary (Gary) Siemen, Chris (Lisa) Troy, sev­er­al cousins, and many nieces and nephews.  He was pre-deceased by his father William.

Mike Pat­ter­son was a mem­ber of the Port Huron Lodge of the Inter­na­tion­al Ship­mas­ters Asso­ci­a­tion and the Inter­na­tion­al Orga­ni­za­tion of Mas­ters, Mates and Pilots mar­itime labor union.

Mike will be sore­ly missed by the Tow­ing Com­pa­ny and all who worked with him.

In mem­o­ry of Capt. Michael Pat­ter­son, below are links to just a few of our favorite arti­cles about Capt. Patterson:

• “Your rep­u­ta­tion is on the line with every tow.”
• “The Great Lakes Tow­ing Com­pa­ny Tugs Free Aground PAUL R. TREGURTHA”
• “M/V MISSISSAGI Refloat­ed by The Great Lakes Tow­ing Com­pa­ny After Freighter Ground­ed on St. Marys River”