page_title: John Henry Patterson (author)
section_title: Later life, death and final request
hierarchical_section_title: John Henry Patterson (author) / Biography / Later life, death and final request
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of the reburial ceremony in Avichayil, Israel for Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson 12-4-14
context_page_description: Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, DSO, known as J. H. Patterson, was a British soldier, hunter, author and Christian Zionist, best known for his book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, which details his experiences while building a railway bridge over the Tsavo river in British East Africa in 1898–99. The book has inspired three Hollywood films – Bwana Devil, Killers of Kilimanjaro and The Ghost and the Darkness in which he was portrayed by Val Kilmer.
  In the First World War, Patterson was the commander of the Jewish Legion, "the first Jewish fighting force in nearly two millennia", and has been described as the godfather of the modern Israel Defense Forces.
context_section_description: During the 1940s, Patterson and his wife, "Francie", lived in a modest home in La Jolla, California. Eventually, with his wife in need of regular medical care and his own health in decline, he took up residence at the home of his friend Marion Travis in Bel Air, where he eventually died in his sleep at seventy-nine years of age. His wife died six weeks later in a San Diego nursing home. Both Patterson and his wife were cremated, and their ashes were interred at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, niche 952-OC in Los Angeles.
  According to Patterson's grandson, Alan Patterson, one of his final wishes was that both he and his wife eventually be interred in Israel, ideally with or close to the men he commanded during the First World War. Alan Patterson, the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Canadian representative Todd Young, Beit HaGedudim (the museum of the Jewish Legion), and the moshav (village) of Avihayil (represented by Ezekiel Sivak) began a coordinated effort to honour this request in 2010. With the assistance and support of the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on 4 December 2014, the remains of Patterson and his wife, were re-interred in the Avihayil cemetery where some of the men he commanded are buried. Attending the ceremony were Prime Minister Netanyahu, members of his family, military and cabinet members of the Israeli government, the British Ambassador, the Irish Ambassador, Alan Patterson, Jerry Klinger of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Ezekiel Sivak of Avihayil, representatives and descendent family members of the Jewish Legion, Christians supporters of Israel, 350 guests and numerous other dignitaries.
  Netanyahu referred to Patterson as "the godfather of the Israeli army" and "a great friend of our people, a great champion of Zionism and a great believer in the Jewish State and the Jewish people....I feel it is an obligation of our people, our State and mine personally to fulfil his testimony".
  A souvenir plate postal stamp was issued by the Israel Philatelic Service in Patterson's honour.
caption: Picture of the reburial ceremony
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