By Bonita Wilborn
Dewayne Patterson is a name that is well known in sports and media genres not only in DeKalb and Jackson counties but also across the state. As reported in our NJP January 19 edition, Dewayne, a Rainsville native, began his lifelong career in the newspaper industry in 1990 at the age of 19. That first taste of journalistic enthusiasm came through The Weekly Post, a local newspaper located in Rainsville.
The Weekly Post was founded in 1986 by Carey and Teri Baker, so it was only in its fourth year of operation when Patterson came on the scene. His duties were to cover local sports and work as Post’s Circulations Director. Patterson became somewhat of a local celebrity in the newspaper industry and eventually moved up the ladder with The Weekly Post to become its Editor and then Managing Editor, covering news and sports in DeKalb and Jackson counties.
Patterson continued to work at The Weekly Post for 17 years before moving his employment to the Scottsboro Sentinel in 2007, three years before The Weekly Post was absorbed by its sister paper in Fort Payne.
While working at the Sentinel, Patterson continued to cover news stories and sports.
He became Managing Editor in 2013 and Publisher in 2019. He helped various publications to win nearly 100 awards.
Patterson’s 34-year newspaper career officially ended on April 30, 2023, due to the effects of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a fatal type of motor neuron disease. ALS is characterized by progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain but does not affect mental functioning or the senses (such as seeing or hearing), and it is not contagious. Currently, there is no cure for this disease. It occurs randomly, without any known cause.
Patterson has been quoted as stating, “I loved every minute of working in the newspaper business.”
In August of 2023, it was announced that Dewayne Patterson was one of the 2023 Class of the Jackson County Sports Hall of Fame as a Contributor Inductee. The induction ceremony was held on Saturday, January 12, 2024, when Patterson was in attendance in an incapacitated state due to ALS, less than a month before the disease claimed his life.
Mr. Michael Dewayne Patterson, age 53, of Rainsville, passed away Sunday, February 4, 2024. Funeral services were held on Thursday, February 8, 2024, at 11:00 AM from the W.T. Wilson Funeral Chapel, with Robi Coker, Glen Hicks, and John Graham officiating. Burial followed in Kirk Memorial Gardens.
Mr. Patterson is survived by: Son – Luke Patterson. Brother – Donald Patterson.
He was preceded in death by: Mother – Cynthia Gifford.
Pallbearers were Robi Coker, Jason Bowen, Jason Traylor, Jarrod Traylor, Jonathan Millican, and Jeremy Pruitt, with honorary pallbearers Scotty McFall, Nathaniel Ledbetter, Glen Hicks, Paul Benefield, and Dale Pruitt.
