Michael Thomas Patton, 73

Michael Thomas Patton

July 8, 1948 — Dec. 6, 2021

Sadly, Mike Patton of Hayden, Idaho, passed away on Dec. 6, 2021. To commemorate his life, the family recommends that you do something that Mike would have done.

For example, pour yourself a shot of Laphroaig, light a fine cigar, grab your favorite musical instrument and play something fun. Mike starting playing music early in his life, first on the piano, then ukulele, guitar (6 and 12 string), trombone, mandolin, dobro, pedal steel and bass without a lesson. He loved playing and pursued it often. If you can’t play it yourself, then remember him by listening. The Grateful Dead or John Prine are always good choices.

A few of you may be able to honor him by taking to the skies in your own plane, something he pursued after his April 2015 retirement from Hecla Mining. He enjoyed flying to small and remote airports all across the country to visit friends and family.

If you want to stay on the ground, you can learn to “fly the hack” on a Russian Ural motorcycle as Mike loved to do. Or you can learn a second language. At 17, Mike spent about a few weeks in Honduras and returned home almost bilingual. So, decades later when Hecla needed skilled IT assistance in Venezuela, Mike as a respected IT employee was an obvious candidate.

Many of you can honor him by helping your neighbors as he did. Mike always made friends, but he prided himself in keeping one friend for 63 years. They met as children in Houston, Texas, and stayed in contact throughout their lives. Thank you, Bill.

Mike smiled at everyone and enjoyed people. He stayed connected to all of his family including his many cousins scattered around Texas and Colorado and his sister Betty in Portland, Ore. And he loved, honored and respected his three children – Kyle of Sandpoint, Idaho, Lark of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Tommy and his wife Alyx and their daughter Hailey of Spokane, Wash. These people were the joys of his life. Honor Mike by enjoying family and friends.