Provincetown business owner Robert I. Patrick died in Provincetown on December 21 after a long illness. Born in May 1928, he was the son of Manuel “Pat” and Angie M. [Swett] Patrick. Angie was a Provincetown school teacher.
He left high school in his senior year to join the U.S. Navy as a medic at the end of World War II. He grew up working in his father’s Flagship Restaurant, tried his hand as a commercial fisherman, and, after the war, trained as a chef at what later became the Culinary Institute of America. He and his wife, Elizabeth “Ghee” Patrick, created Marine Specialties in Provincetown, selling army-navy surplus and ships’ salvage. They expanded into an international wholesale business, Marspec, in the early 1970s, for which they traveled the world. He also served as a president of the International Surplus Dealers.
Bob was a past chair of the Provincetown municipal Finance Committee, and a treasurer of the Pilgrim Monument and Museum. Bob and Ghee sold and donated property to form the Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, “Provincetown's ecological crown jewel,” in 2001. He loved sailing and lived aboard boats with his family on the Intracoastal Waterway and in Islamorada and Miami, Florida, for months at a time. For as long as he was able, he walked through Provincetown nearly every day, stopping to check in with friends and fellow business owners.
He is survived by his wife, Ghee, his children Pat and Oona, his daughter-in-law Francesca, and his grandchildren Nicolas, Eli, Avery, and Eoin.
Calling hours will be held Monday, January 3rd from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at the Gately Funeral Home, 94 Harry Kemp Way, Provincetown. A Funeral Service will be at 10:00 am, Tuesday January 4th at Provincetown United Methodist Church, 20 Shankpainter Rd, Provincetown. Burial, with military honors, will follow in Provincetown Cemetery.
Current COVID regulations regarding masking and social distancing will be strictly observed at the Funeral Home and Church.