My parents, Jean Barnes Smith, (May 26, 1921-June 11, 2008) and Robert Ross Patten, (September 3, 1922- September 2, 1987) met on a blind date August 12, 1942 at the Coconut Grove, a famous dance club, which later burned down killing hundreds.  Bob was a student at Tufts University.  He was born and raised in Trenton, NJ, where his father, Wilbert Howe Patten (June 17, 1983-Nov, 1970), owned a small business, The Pattern, Machine and Foundry.  Bob’s mother, Elsie Ross Patten, (June 25, 1891-Dec 7,1941) had died when Bob was 19. One of Bob’s fraternity brothers, Lloyd Sanford, was also a good friend of Jean’s.  He introduced them.

My parents fell in love and that love grew and was nourished thru their letters to each other.  The first letter in the series is actually a thank you note from my father to my grandmother after his first meal at their home in August of 1942.  The next letter, dated April 12, 1943, is where he lays out his heart and love for her, writing all the things that he couldn’t say out loud.  By this point, he knows that he will be going home to Trenton at the end of the semester and volunteering for the Armed Forces.  The daily letters begin in May of 1943, when Bob takes the train to Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, to visit his grandmother and then returns to Trenton to await notice of being called into the US Army.  In some of the early letters, he writes of his worry of not being accepted.  Bob was almost blind in one eye from congenital condition, known as the Lazy Eye Syndrome.  These early letters are before they are engaged, however, he had “pinned” Jean, with his fraternity pin.  An active Zeta Psi, he lived in the fraternity house, while at Tufts.  The letters continue until the end of 1945, when he finally returns from the war.  By this time, they are married and I am almost one year old. My mother kept every letter that Bob had ever written her and when those letters came to me at her death, they were neatly packaged by date in a paper carton.  After reading a few random letters, I realized that the letters were not only a beautiful set of love notes from a very love struck young man, facing his own mortality as a soldier, but a rich commentary on life during the 40’s and the impact of the war effort on his life. There are also some letters from her to him in spring of 1944, right after they are married.  Additionally there are few letters from his father, Wilbert Patten.

His pet name for her was Dutchie, because she wore a hat that looked like a Dutch cap the first time she came to Trenton on the train.  He liked the look and convinced her to use the same style hat as part of her wedding outfit.

Bob	Jean (Dutchie)

© 2013 Patricia Jean Patten Hoge
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