Pattison turns 100

Havre Resident Leo Pattison celebrated 100 years of life at the Care and Comfort Home Thursday with members of his family as they reminisced about life past and life to come.

Pattison's family, including his wife, Verna, sister Patsy Shepard and four nieces, Kim Fornshell, Holly Carpenter, Julie Leer and Cynthia Hawley, kept him company for much of the day, celebrating with cupcakes and stories about his life.

They remarked upon this incredible centennial milestone and the life Pattison led to get there including an incredible recovery from a devastating car accident in his 20s that left him with a broken back.

Hawley said the doctors expected Pattison to never walk again, but he recovered and went on to lead a full life, including many decades with his wife, Verna.

Verna Pattison said her husband was a good man, one who had become very sweet to her as he got older.

She said he was a very frugal man and told a story about an argument the two of them had gotten into over a three-cent stamp.

She said his father, Jacob, had lived to be 104, and it seems Leo might be set to follow his example.

"There is a longevity in the family," she said.

Pattison, originally from Glasgow, became a farmer after returning from being stationed in Bataan in the Philippines during World War 2 and eventually ended up in Havre, where he now resides at Care and Comfort home, and hopefully for many years to come, his family said.