Students, staff remember an inspiring teacher

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Thousands of mourners met by candlelight Thursday night to honor a teacher they loved who was hit and killed by a car Tuesday while riding his bicycle.

Police said 50-year-old Gordon Patterson was killed when 18-year-old Antonio Eugene Cellestine hit him from behind with his car and then left the scene. He is charged with felony hit-and-run.

The incident occurred south of St. Johns on 41st St.

Instead of wearing black to mourn the loss of Patterson, who taught at Hudson’s Bay High School, most who gathered at the school wore white to remember him as they always saw him.

“Ever since I came here my freshman year, he’s always had a white lab coat on,” said former student Corey Reid.

Patterson was a computer design teacher and also led extracurricular groups in science.

At the gathering Patterson was remembered for dressing up on Halloween as a Jedi from Star Wars and for calling home to parents – not to say their child was a problem in class, but a pure delight.

Students said if he taught them one thing, it was compassion and inspiration, which was captured through his well-known catchphrase: “’I love you in a positive kind of way,’” said student Dorthey Shafer.

Photo by Jeff Jaeger KATU News