Patrick A. Colburn, 70, a member of St. Matthew Parish in Boyne City, died peacefully of cancer Oct. 15 in the care of Hospice of Northwest Michigan at Northern Michigan Regional Hospitalin Boyne City.

A regular visitor to northern Michigan since his family built a summer cottage on Lake Huron in the late 1940s, Mr. Colburn moved to Charlevoix County’s Melrose Township from Ypsilanti Township in early 2008 after being diagnosed with brain cancer. In Melrose Township he lived with his brother and sister-in-law, George and Karen Colburn. 

Mr. Colburn grew up in Highland Park and on Detroit’s northwest side with two brothers, George and Neal. He was a 1957 graduate of Salesian High School for Boys in Detroit, where he won letters in baseball and football.

He remained active in sports throughout his adult years, especially sandlot baseball and slow-pitch softball.  He was a charter member of the Ever-7 Sports Club, which was founded by friends in his northwest Detroit neighborhood, and remained active for many years in club activities. 

In 1996 he was chosen to play on Detroit’s slow-pitch entry in the Senior Olympics held that year in St. George, Utah.

Mr. Colburn was a U.S. Army veteran, and a member of the U.S. Army Reserves in the 1960s. Later, he became an Army counselor based in Dearborn Heights. In 2008 he retired after 25 years of service as an employee of Wayne County, most recently for the Detroit/Wayne County Airport Authority.

Mr. Colburn was preceded in death by his father, George, his mother, Nora, and a half-brother, Denis.  He never married, but was a loving and proud uncle to six nieces and two nephews.

Colburn’s body was donated to the Michigan State University School of Medicine for research and teaching. Funeral rites are pending.

Memorials to Hospice of Northwest Michigan.

Family and friends wishing to share a memory are encouraged to do so online at www.stonefuneralhomeinc.com.