Tim Patterson was a truly remarkable individual. An architect, engineer, and a perfectionist above all else.
When I came to Select Trees in 2015, I was fresh out of college and eager to start a career that I could become passionate about. At face value I was presented that this job would involve me answering to Mike Glenn as my boss, but I had no idea how this would soon change. After a few short weeks Mike saw that I would be best suited for a role in Production Management and at that point he convinced me to introduce myself to Tim. At the time I had no clue who Tim was. Until now it had been a well-kept secret that the older gentleman driving around the farm with a boxer riding shotgun was our co-founder and Production Manager.
Ambitious and up for the challenge I confronted Tim that afternoon with the idea that I could assist him with managing Production. He put me through an intense reality check promptly. This initial conversation evolved into a 2-hour discussion in which Tim tried his best to convince me that I did not know what I would be up against, but nonetheless I convinced him to give me a shot.
The next few months were painful. I found out quickly why Tim had been kept a secret. He was determined, and he accepted nothing less than perfection. As much as we both relented in this training exercise Mike Glenn always reassured us both that this was going to work, just continue meeting twice daily whether you like it or not. This would often be followed by a motivating analogy about “taking time to sharpen your blade, otherwise your blade becomes dull and hinders your progress.”
The following year, our relationship was still a rough one. Tim was delegating more to me, but not without a lot of reprimanding and correction. At times I felt like all I was doing was having my blade sharpened with little opportunity to work with it. One afternoon Tim called me up to his office for a meeting. I was braced for a lecture, but to my surprise he told me that he had just been diagnosed with cancer. He had not told anyone else at this point. I remember leaving this meeting with a greater understanding of Tim and a higher level of respect for his integrity.
In the years that followed, Tim went through some very harsh rounds of treatment, he went through a period of remission where he gained back his strength and energy, but ultimately his cancer returned. Over the course of this battle our relationship changed dramatically. He grew to trust and depend on me to keep Production on course, and I needed his experience and reassurance that I was making the best decisions at times.
Tim was never married and did not have children. For the longest time I did not understand why he would choose to live this way, but I came to find that Select Trees truly was his family. He had once had the goal to retire, but he never could. From the outside I always assumed that this was because we did not have the personnel to fill his role. But after several years of me being in the Production Manager role, Tim still would be here 7 days a week, designing infrastructure projects, meeting with Mike Glenn to discuss and brainstorm on business development, critiquing the projects around the farm, and always investing new ideas into our partners that would challenge us to always look for ways to improve. His determination, perseverance, and passion is a testament to the goals that he and Mike Glenn set for our company – ‘a business dedicated to a journey toward EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS’. Tim was the epitome of EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS. Whether it was something as complex as figuring out how to propagate thousands of Oak Trees each year, or as simple as cleaning the greenhouse floor, he would obsess over the details to establish the best way forward.
My understanding of Tim grew and I came to realize that he truly loved what he did, and his fulfillment came from the fruit of his lifetime achievements. His worry and stress about what would come from the advanced, premier tree nursery that he and Mike would one day leave behind, was something he had made peace with, in knowing that they had developed a team that would confidently carry out their goals into the future by continuing to grow and sell the highest quality trees available and continuing to push one another along.
In his quest to learn, his passion for trees, and his investment of time into others, he gave everything that he had. We were all very blessed to have such an outstanding mentor, friend, and part of our family. Rest in Peace Tim, you and your incredible dog Buster will forever be in the spirit of Select Trees.
– Drew Harrell
