Obituary: U.S. congressman, Santa Ana Mayor Jerry Patterson left indelible mark

Attorney and former U.S. Congressman Jerry Patterson — a career Democrat who built political inroads in staunchly conservative Orange County in the 1970s and ’80s and served locally as mayor of Santa Ana — died Friday at his Fountain Valley home.

A long-serving Coast Community College District trustee about to finish his fifth term on the Board of Directors in December, Patterson, whose health had been declining, had just celebrated his 90th birthday Oct. 25 surrounded by loved ones.

“He wasn’t feeling, obviously, perfect, but he enjoyed it,” wife Linda-Moulton Patterson said Tuesday, noting that family members from all over Southern California and the East Coast attended the party.

Jerry Patterson, bottom right, with wife Linda Moulton-Patterson, poses with grandchildren at their home in October.

(Courtesy of Linda Moulton-Patterson)

Representing Orange County constituents in California’s 38th Congressional District, an elected post he held from 1975 to 1985, Patterson previously served on the Santa Ana City Council, from 1969 to 1973, before serving a two-year stint as mayor.

As a managing partner for Los Angeles-based law firm Burke, Williams and Sorensen, he was the first city attorney for Dana Point, upon the city’s incorporation in 1989, and also provided legal counsel for the cities of Cypress and Lake Forest.

Patterson was elected to the Coast Community College District Board in 1996 and retired from law one year later, opening a public affairs consulting firm in Costa Mesa. He also taught public policy courses as an adjunct professor at Cal State Long Beach, his undergraduate alma mater, from 1986 to 1999.

Coast District officials Tuesday remembered the Fountain Valley resident as a “tireless champion for education, civic engagement and the well-being of his community.”

“His leadership and vision shaped not only the communities he served but the lives of the people who had the honor to know him,” Board President Lorraine Prinsky said in a statement. “Jerry’s legacy is one of dedication, service and an unwavering belief in the power of education to transform lives.”

Former U.S. Congressman Jerry Patterson served on the Coast Community College District from 1996 until his death on Friday.

(Courtesy of Coast Community College District)

Born Jerry Mumford Patterson in El Paso, Texas, on Oct. 25, 1934, he grew up primarily in the Tuscon area but moved with his mother to Long Beach after the death of his father, according to his wife.

After serving four years for the U.S. Coast Guard, he entered community college and earned a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach in 1960. Patterson went on to study at USC, graduated from UCLA Law School in 1966 and was admitted to the State Bar of California the following year.

In Congress, Patterson was instrumental in helping pass the Refugee Act of 1980 with then-senators Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden, which allowed citizens from war-torn Vietnam to relocate to safety in the United States.

He was also involved in area improvements to the I-5 Freeway and the Santa Ana River and sponsored legislation to establish the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana.

“He was a servant leader,” Jim Moreno, a fellow Coast Community College District trustee, said Tuesday. “I’ll remember him as a great man, an example of a very dedicated leader who did not waste time. If he saw a problem, he worked on it, and he listened to everyone.”

Jerry Patterson, fourth from left, joined the Santa Ana City Council in 1969 and served as mayor in 1973.

(Courtesy of the city of Santa Ana)

Moulton-Patterson, who was equally active in politics and served on the Huntington Beach City Council from 1990 to 1994, including as mayor, first met the statesman in 1983, when she took a job as a staffer in his district office.

The two wed in Huntington Beach on June 14, 1987, which happened to coincide with the observation of Flag Day.

“We’ve had such a wonderful life together. We had so much in common,” she said Tuesday. “And politics was a big thing we had in common. I’m going to really miss that — I just miss him.”

A portrait of former U.S. Congressman Jerry Patterson with wife Linda Moulton-Patterson, taken in October. Patterson died Friday at his Fountain Valley home. He was 90.

(Courtesy of Linda Moulton-Patterson)

In addition to his wife, Patterson is survived by daughters Jane Patterson (husband Richard Ernest), Wendy Moulton-Tate and Julie Petty, son Patrick Patterson (wife Lynn), grandchildren Jordan, Kyle, Sierra, JJ, Adam and Lindsey, and two great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will take place Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. at Community United Methodist Church, 6652 Heil Ave., in Huntington Beach, with a reception at the Patterson’s home in Fountain Valley to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Patterson’s memory to the Goldenwest College Scholarship program or CareCHOICES Hospice Care.