Grady Pattillo spent most of his life giving to others.
He gave food, time, money or whatever someone might need, said long-time friend Samuel “Capers” Stephens.
“Grady didn’t grow up poor, but they weren’t quite middle class either,” he said of his friend's family. “But he knew what it was like to need things, and he worked to get what he needed. And he gave to those who needed, later in his life.”
Mr. Pattillo was famous for leaving bags of fresh fruit and vegetables on the doorsteps of family, friends and strangers.
“He had a giving heart,” said his daughter Yolanda Pattillo-DuBose, of Atlanta. “He would always say, ‘Your ways and your actions speak louder than your words,’ and that’s how he lived.”
An avid hunter and fisherman, Mr. Pattillo’s mobility was compromised by significant hip pain, his daughter said. He decided to have surgery so he could get on with his active life, but a series of complications led to multiple surgeries, after the successful hip replacement, his daughter said. The additional procedures wore on Mr. Pattillo’s body, rendering him incapable of taking care of himself.
Mr. Patillo was a giver, not a taker, said his son Andrè Pattillo. That’s what made the last two months of his father's life challenging.
“He wouldn’t hardly let others do for him before this,” his son said. “And in my 55 years of life, the best times I’ve had with my father were these last seven weeks. I was able to provide for him like he provided for us, and others.”
Will Grady Pattillo, of Decatur, known as Grady by all, died Friday at DeKalb Medical Center. He was 81. A funeral has been planned for noon Wednesday at Phillip A.M.E. Church. Burial will follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. Donald Trimble Mortuary, Inc., is in charge of arrangements.
Grady Pattillo was “old school,” his son said. He served in the Army in the 50s and fought in the Korean War.
“He was a disciplinarian,” Andrè Pattillo said. “He also did things his own way. And people may not have liked the way he did things, but I don’t know anyone who didn’t respect him.”
Mr. Pattillo was a hard worker, his son said, holding down two full-time jobs to provide for his family, which included 10 children. In the 1960s he moved his family from the predominately black Reynoldstown neighborhood to the predominately white city of Decatur. The move provided his family with a bigger home and a different view of the world, his son and daughter said.
“As we were growing up, we didn’t understand why he did what he did,” Andrè Pattillo said. “But as adults, we understand he did what he needed to do to provide a better life for us.”
Mr. Pattillo is also survived by daughters, Velma Chaney and Susan Pattillo of the Atlanta area; sons Jerome Pattillo, Ernest Benson, Bernard Pattillo, Charles Pattillo, Euzarlous Pattillo and Wekemuel Pattillo of the Atlanta area; 25 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren and one brother, Charles Pattillo.
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