REDMOND – When Redmond School District officials named a new grade school in 1995 after longtime community volunteer Vern Patrick, he said he considered it the greatest honor of his life. In return, he volunteered many hours at the school.

Patrick died Wednesday at the age of 81.

The man with the ready grin and twinkling eyes will be remembered for his tireless work for the community, especially its children, at a public memorial service at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18, at Redmond High School. A private, family service is scheduled for this Saturday.

Bob Nygaard, principal of Vern Patrick Elementary School, notified staff Tuesday night that Patrick was having health complications after recently breaking his hip. An announcement of Patrick’s death was made to the students Wednesday morning and a crisis team of counselors was stationed in the library all day to talk to staff and students.

”A lot of our teachers have known Mr. Patrick for many years,” Nygaard said. ”They are taking the news very hard.”

One teacher, Marilee Patrick, is the daughter-in-law of Vern Patrick.

A letter was sent home to parents Wednesday, informing them of Patrick’s death and the options available for students who need help dealing with the news. School staff are still discussing the possibility of a special assembly or memorial service for Patrick, but have made no decisions yet.

Patrick was a celebrity at the school.

Each April for the past eight years students and staff held the ”Mr. Vern Patrick Birthday Assembly.” The students sang and danced for him and waited in line to shake his hand, hug him, and/or wish him a happy birthday.

”He was an amazing gentleman,” Nygaard said. ”He gave so much to the community yet I know from talking to him that he considered himself lucky to have known the kids of Redmond. Mr. Patrick was a part of the culture of this building and we will miss him very much. If you knew him you would have no trouble realizing why this school was named for him.”

Patrick was born April 18, 1922, in Nebraska, and raised in Idaho. He and his wife, Madeline, whom he married in 1943, came to Redmond in 1948.

Sixth Street, outside his then-new pharmacy in 1948, was a two-way street and the town had fewer than 2,500 people. The Patricks embraced their new hometown and dedicated countless hours of service to its betterment over the decades.

”He was a success story in his own right,” said Redmond Mayor Alan Unger. ”He started out in life with very little, and worked hard to get his education and build his business.”

As a result of his hard climb to the top, Patrick was careful with his money, Unger said. ”It was harder for him to give his money than his time, but he was generous with both.”

Patrick’s Cent-Wise Stores included a drugstore that closed in 1992, hardware and sporting goods stores that survive today, and for a time, furniture stores. Despite long hours at his businesses, Patrick found time for service to his community.

”He was an outstanding example of volunteerism in this community,” said Carl Vertrees, a longtime fellow Kiwanis Club member. ”I couldn’t begin to name everything he was involved in.”

Patrick spent 30 years with the volunteer fire department, was a member of the Redmond High School Booster Club, served on the board of the Redmond School District Foundation, sponsored Little League teams and was active in Kiwanis.

”He was Mr. Kiwanis in the community,” said Vertrees, whom Patrick persuaded to join Kiwanis over Rotary in 1975. Patrick served as president of the local club in 1971-72, as lieutenant governor of Division 78 in 1978-79, and served as chairman of the Redmond Kiwanis Foundation for the past 30 years, helping spearhead such projects as Cascade Swim Center and Don Rich Memorial Stadium.

”He would give time for about any project,” Unger said, ”especially if it had to do with kids.”

”He played a role in the lives of an awful lot of young people in the community, including my oldest daughter,” Vertrees said, by employing many of them in his business.

In addition Patrick and his wife established a scholarship fund about 10 years ago that provides a $1,000 award each year to a graduating senior at Redmond High School. The Cent-Wise stores also provide scholarship money.

”He’ll really be missed,” Unger said. ”He was a driving force in our community through the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.”

While giving to his community Patrick and his wife raised four sons: Shawn of Portland; Michael of Redmond; and Kelly and Ryan, both of Bend; seven granddaughters and another grandchild on the way; and one great-granddaughter.

”He’s done so much,” said his son, Shawn. ”His philosophy was always to do whatever was right, to take care of people the way he’d want to be treated.”

To Craig Unger, Redmond High School’s resource officer and younger brother of the mayor, Vern Patrick was an inspiration and a mentor.

”Growing up we would go to his house for swimming, to jump on the trampoline,” Craig Unger said. ”He treated us like his nephews, like his own kids. He wanted us to call him Uncle Pat.”

When Craig Unger returned to Redmond in 1985 after college and a first job, Patrick’s involvement in the community inspired him to join the fire department and Kiwanis.

But perhaps, his greatest inspiration came from the years Patrick spent helping out Santa Claus.

”He came to our house every Christmas Eve for 20-some years,” Craig Unger said, a tradition he continued for nearly as long for other families every holiday season.

Memorials can be sent to the Vern and Madeline Patrick Scholarship Fund, c/o Kiwanis Foundation, P.O. Box 253 Redmond, OR 97756

Leslie Pugmire Hole contributed to this report.