Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award is a lifetime achievement honor for alumni or friends of the college who display exceptional stewardship to Coe through their service and/or financial contributions.

2024 recipient | Tony Patterson, Jr. '70

Tony was born in Binghamton, New York. After high school he headed to the Midwest to attend Coe. At Coe, he met many fellow students, college staff and professors who were instrumental in his later accomplishments and engendered a love of learning and service to others. During his time at Coe, Tony was student body vice president, a member of Sachem academic honor society, played varsity tennis, held several department assistantships, worked in food services and was named Outstanding Senior Man. He also had the privilege of serving on the Coe College Board of Trustees for many years and, even better, his daughter Kristin Lenz '96, wife of Coe Athletic Hall of Famer Brian Lenz '96, now serves on the Board of Trustees and is secretary of the board. Grandson Barron Lenz '25, number 44 on the Coe football team, is a third generation Kohawk. Tony says the best thing about attending Coe was meeting and marrying his wife, Marylou Patterson '70.

After graduation from Coe, Tony and Marylou headed south to Dallas, Texas where Tony attended Southern Methodist University School of Law. In law school, Tony was named Outstanding First Year Law Student, was a member and presiding officer of the Barristers honor society, served as Leading Articles Editor of the SMU Law Review, was a member of the Order of the Coif (top 10% of the graduating class) and graduated cum laude. He also had the second highest score on the Texas Bar exam in his graduation year.

After law school Marylou and Tony lived in Dallas and Waxahachie, Texas, raising four children, which has multiplied to 11 grandchildren. In 2011 they headed North to live in Whitefish, Montana on a ski run at the Whitefish Mountain Resort.

Tony practiced law in Dallas from 1973 to 2011. His law practice centered on business, regulatory and tax-exempt organization law, primarily in the representation of health care providers, principally hospitals and health care systems. For most of his private practice career Tony was a partner in the Dallas office of the international law firm Fulbright & Jaworski (now Norton Rose Fulbright). In 2011, Tony left private practice to become the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of a client, Kalispell Regional Healthcare System (now Logan Health) in Kalispell, Montana until he retired in 2018.

Outside of his law practice Tony was active in bar association activities and the leadership of many charitable and civic organizations. With the American Bar Association, he served on the Governing Board of the ABA Health Law Section, was Chair of that Section and received its initial Lifetime Achievement Award. He was chair of the Section Officers Conference of the ABA and chair of the Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund (a fundraiser for scholarships awarded to racial and ethnic minority law students). Tony served as a board member and as president of the American Bar Endowment, the ABA’s affiliated insurance program that uses its revenues to support the charitable activities of the ABA and the American Bar Foundation. Tony is currently a board member of the American Bar Foundation (which carries on empirical socio-legal research projects on national and international issues). Three of his non-bar activities in Whitefish have been serving on the board and as president of Shepherd’s Hand, a free medical and dental clinic for the uninsured, as a board member of the Glacier National Park Conservancy and as a director and vice chair of the board of the Big Mountain Fire District. Tony also enjoyed several opportunities to teach as an adjunct law professor, teaching Taxation of Deferred Compensation at SMU Law School and Health Law and Regulation at the University of Iowa College of Law and the University of Montana Law School.
Tony enjoys road/gravel bike riding, fly fishing and fly tying, alpine skiing, learning and traveling with Marylou. They are now transitioning to Denver, Colorado, for the next exciting next chapter in their lives.

Please note: while nominations are accepted year-round, only those submitted by January 31 will be considered for awarding at that year's Homecoming celebration.

Past recipients

Award eligibility

This award is given to alumni or friends of the college who display exceptional stewardship to Coe through their service and/or financial contributions.
Nominees must have graduated from Coe College a minimum of 25 years ago.
Award may be presented posthumously but living award recipients must be present to accept the award.
Current members of Coe's Board of Trustees, Board of Visitors/President's Advisory Council, or Alumni Council cannot receive this award while serving their term.

Judging criteria

The Coe Alumni Council evaluates nominees based on the following weighted criteria:

20 %–Distinction in their professional field
Recognition including, but not limited to, scholarship, awards, and leadership recognition by one's peers in, trade associations, business, education, sports, and medicine.

50%–Loyalty to Coe
Dedication to the college measured in volunteer service or financial stewardship including, but not limited to, admission assistance, student engagement, alumni events, Board of Trustees, Board of Visitors/President's Advisory Council, Alumni Council or Coe Fund.

30%–Community Engagement
Service to the nominee’s community, including, but not limited to, board, committee, task force, and volunteer service.