Obituary: Bob E. Patterson

Bob E. Patterson of Waco, who taught five decades in Baylor University’s religion department, died July 17. He was 90. He was born Aug. 29, 1931, to Eva and Dewitt Patterson. He grew up in Kings Mountain, N.C. After two years at Gardner Webb University, he transferred to Baylor University as a junior and earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and English and earned a master’s degree in philosophy. He and his wife Barbara married in Tallahassee, Fla., in December 1953. They lived in Louisville, Ky., while he completed his Ph.D. at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Following graduation, the couple moved to Eustis, Fla., where he was pastor of First Baptist Church. In August 1961, he became a faculty member of Baylor University’s religion department. He taught there 50 years before retiring in 2011.While on the Baylor faculty, he wrote and edited numerous books and articles. An 18-volume series on “Makers of the Modern Theological Mind” and the book, Who is Jesus Christ?, were widely used by both students and laity. In 1995, he was appointed distinguished professor of religion. He also was a popular Bible teacher outside the classroom and was a frequent interim pastor and conference speaker. He traveled to several countries in the former Soviet Union as a mission teacher, taught in the Baylor in London studies program, and led several study tours to the Middle East. For more than 40 years, he taught a Sunday school class at First Baptist Church of Waco. Outside the academic world, he loved baseball and coached girls’ Little League many years. He also was a jogger, hunter, backpacker and avid reader. He researched his family genealogy and coordinated semi-annual family reunions. He was preceded in death by his wife Barbara and by three brothers: Charles, Jack and Hal. He is survived by daughter Lindy Dehm and husband Brian; daughter Beth Patterson; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.