HOWARD A. PATRICK

November 8, 1945 – April 30, 2017

Howard A. Patrick, age 71, of Atlanta, Ga., passed away at Emory Hospital Sunday, April 30, 2017, following a lengthy illness.

The son of the late Charles Howard and Maxine Flinn Patrick, Howard was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Olive Branch, Mississippi, prior to his family’s relocation to Atlanta, Georgia. Following a successful management stint with the Ronson Corporation in Atlanta, Howard returned to his birthplace and became a valued member of the information technology team at Federal Express.  Photography was his greatest love, however, and his creative expertise was sought out by schools, modeling agencies and commercial accounts in both the Memphis and Atlanta markets for many years.

Howard was a loving, caring person whose willingness to help his family and friends knew no bounds, as he demonstrated in 2006 when, having taken early retirement from Federal Express, he returned to Atlanta to become his mother’s sole care-giver and constant companion until her death in June 2014.   

It is worth noting that Howard’s mother, Maxine Flinn, was a direct descendant of Stephen Flinn – who along with Milton Blocker, were the founding families of Olive Branch, Mississippi.  On April 13, 1836, they purchased 1,280 acres of land in newly created DeSoto County from the Chickasaw Indians for $1,600.00. Originally known as “Cowpens” in the early 1840’s, the name was quickly changed to “Watson’s Crossroads” in 1842, then to “Olive Branch” in 1846, when the first community post office was established.  

Howard was laid to rest alongside his parents at Blocker Cemetery in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

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