John K. Patberg

John K. Patberg of Vero Beach, Fla. and Princeton died at his Princeton home on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. John was born in Elizabeth, N.J. on October 8, 1948, the second son of Jesse Bernard Patberg and Elizabeth Montgomery Patberg. John grew up in Cranford, N.J. and played on the boys’ tennis team, winning the Union County boys’ doubles title in 1966. John attended Brown University where he excelled at bridge and photography as the photography editor of the Brown Daily Herald, but struggled academically until, in his junior year, he took an introductory computer science course and found his passion. He changed his major and basically lived in the lab. For John, programming was like playing a game and he couldn’t believe you got grades and credits for play. John received a BA and MS in applied mathematics from Brown. He was mentored by the legendary Andy van Dam, the Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Professor of Technology and Education at Brown, with whom he went as a research assistant to Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, during Andy’s 1971-72 sabbatical year.

Returning to the U.S., John began work in the Research Division of Western Electric, later switching to marketing and was sponsored by the company to attend the master’s degree program for executives at the graduate school of business, Columbia University, where he received the Award for Excellence, Class of ’79-I. Dee was in his class. John had long insisted that he had no interest in marriage or children. Dee put a stop to that, and they were married on May 31, 1980. Their daughter, Libby, was born, fittingly, on Valentine’s Day, 1984.

John joined Coopers & Lybrand (C&L) as a consultant in the InfoComm practice and became a partner in 1994. Helping start-ups and small businesses grow  was where John’s interest lay. Although C&L was not a small business, and they consulted to large enterprises, John viewed the team of the InfoComm practice as a small business of which he was an integral part. In 1998 C&L merged with Price Waterhouse, and in 2002 the consulting practice was sold to IBM. That was the tipping point; John took early retirement.

During his retirement, John realized his ambition to work with start-ups and small businesses, both as a consultant and an investor. John also tried to use his skills as a consultant to assist nonprofit organizations working in Trenton including Isles and The Children’s Home Society. The consultant in John made him for several years encourage Trenton leaders to investigate and adopt an effective approach to “collective impact” used by strivetogether.org. In 2015 John began assisting the Trenton Literacy Movement in its campaign to improve literacy education in the Trenton Public Schools, continuing with this effort even in his last months.

John also returned to bridge, playing frequently with his partner from the days in the 70s when they would go to tournaments in New York City for bridge and good food. Even while in Florida, he would set up “tables” on-line, so that he could play with his Princeton friends. He expanded his culinary interest, learned to bake bread, grill fish, and be creative with international foods and fresh ingredients. He loved to feed people and hosted many parties with enthusiasm.

Retirement also afforded John the opportunity to return to the game of tennis. Dee and John joined Pretty Brook Tennis Club when he retired. John soon became a game organizer aiming for at least one game every day. He received the Club’s Penick Award for outstanding sportsmanship. Dee and John also began to spend more time at their condo at Sea Oaks in Vero Beach, an ocean to river development with 16 clay tennis courts in the center. John was a singles and doubles champion at Sea Oaks. The USTA Team with whom he played went to Florida Sectionals in 2014. John joked that when the nets came down at Pretty Brook in the Fall, he and Dee would drive to Sea Oaks in his convertible, returning in mid-Spring when the nets went back up. While in Florida, John spent most Wednesday mornings hammering with Habitat for Humanity.

In addition to his wife, Dee, and daughter, Elizabeth T. Patberg, MD, a third year resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga,; John is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Judy Patberg of Harbor Springs, Mich,; and his three nephews, Bill and Jenny and their children, Quinn and Mason Patberg, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Zach and Chelsea Patberg of Asbury Park, N.J.: and Jon Patberg, MD of Martinez, Calif.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Trenton Literacy Movement, PO Box 653, Trenton, NJ 08604 or National Junior Tennis and Learning of Trenton, 949 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08618, www.njtloftrenton.org, whose mission creates opportunities for success by enriching the lives of under-resourced youth, introducing them to the lifetime sport of tennis that John loved, and providing innovative tennis, education, and mentoring programs.