Donald H. Patterson Sr.; Former Baltimore Sun Publisher

Donald H. Patterson Sr., 81, former publisher and last in a series of fathers and sons who presided over the Baltimore Sun newspapers for much of this century. Patterson rose through the newspaper’s management ranks after distinguished Navy service in World War II, was named publisher in 1977 and given the added position of president of the parent A.S. Abell Co. two years later. He retired in 1983. Patterson was born in Baltimore in 1916, five years after his father had come to the city as managing editor of the Evening Sun. The younger Patterson--godson of journalist H.L. Mencken--earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1940. He enrolled at Harvard Law School that year, but attended class there for just one day before receiving a notice from the Navy to report for officer training. Patterson was awarded the Bronze Star for service as executive officer aboard the destroyer Somers during the invasion of southern France in 1944. Patterson’s successor as publisher, Reg Murphy, now president and chairman of the board of National Geographic, said: “Patterson was a mentor and a principled publisher. He brought both management skill and thoughtful compassion for his fellow employees to work every day.” Times Mirror Co., owner of The Times and other newspapers, bought the Sun in 1987. Tuesday of cancer in Annapolis, Md.