C.E. (Elmo) Patton

C. E. (Elmo) Patton, 98, of Bethel Heights, Arkansas passed away Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at the Earlene Howard Hospice Home in Springdale.

Elmo was born on June 23, 1921 in Des Moines, Lucas County, Iowa, to the late James Lester Patton and Etta McEntire Patton. He married Alice Shofner on June 11, 1947. He spent six years in the Army, three of which he served in the European Theater during World War II. He received a battlefield commission and attained the rank of Captain and at the end of the war he was awarded disability retirement. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. He started his own business in Springdale, the Diesel Service Company, which he later moved to Ft. Smith. While living in Sebastian County he served on the Quorum Court and in 1982 he was the Democratic nominee for State Senate in District 14, running against sixteen year incumbent Gene Rainwater. After losing the general election it was noted that a C.E. Patton obituary had appeared in the Greenwood Democrat newspaper immediately prior to the election. Elmo and Alice retired back to Northwest Arkansas where he volunteered one day a week from 1996 to 2016 at our Fayetteville Veteran’s Hospital for a total of twenty years.

He is survived by his wife Alice Shofner Patton of nearly 73 years; three sons, James of Jeff City, Missouri, Steve of Fayetteville, Arkansas and Ken of Riverton, Wyoming; two sisters, Eula Willmore of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Faye Medlin of Memphis, Tennessee; four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two brothers and one sister.

Private Funeral Services will be held at the Fayetteville National Cemetery with Military Honors. Arrangements are entrusted to Backstrom-Pyeatte Funeral Home of Springdale. Please visit http://www.backstrom-pyeattte.com to sign our online guestbook.