Posted by ******* on January 28, 2003:

Sunday; July 9, 1989 ROBERT PATER, AF COLONEL, CONSULTANT, DIES Robert Edwin Pater, 63, a consultant and retired Air Force colonel who was a combat fighter pilot in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, died of cancer July 7 at his home in McLean. Col. Pater was born in New York City and grew up in Nutley, N.J. He was commissioned in the Air Force after graduating from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1948. He was a graduate of the National War College and received a master's degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He served with fighter units in Europe and this country before going to Vietnam. He also had been chief of strategic studies at the Air War College, with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and executive assistant to an Air Force vice chief of staff. After retiring from active duty in 1978, Col. Pater spent three years as a senior systems analyst with the Martin Marietta Corp. in Bethesda. He worked for Titan Systems in McLean from 1982 to 1987. After that he was a Defense Department consultant. His decorations included three awards of the Legion of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, eight Air Medals and the Bronze Star. He was a member of the Order of Daedalians. His hobbies included surf fishing and squash. Survivors include his wife of 38 years, the former Nancy Wendrick, and two sons, Benjamin and Robert Jr., all of McLean; two daughters, Laurie Edwards of Arnold, Md., and Leslie Hoban of Washington; his mother, Ida Pater, and a brother, Paul, both of Atlanta; and two grandchildren.

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