Anyone in the Seattle area who grew up with J.P. Patches on television or had the privilege of meeting him at any of his many appearances can speak at length to the impact he had on their life. For those of us lucky enough to have been children during the years when he was on KIRO television twice-a-day, he was there in the morning to help us get up, face the day and head off to school, and he was there again when we came home, waiting to ask how we were, and to make us laugh. It's almost impossible today to envision a personality who could so genuinely transcend the medium of television to become a trusted member of the family. But, he did it, with a deep kindness that inspired so many.
As a kid who had a serious health problem requiring a lengthy stay at Seattle's Children's Hospital, many, many years ago, I still remember the excitement that anticipated a planned visit by J.P. Patches. At that time, J.P. had only been on Seattle television for about 6 years, but he was already the most important star any of us kids could imagine meeting. For those of us there, it was an obviously challenging time. But, knowing that our friend J.P. would be coming to see us, it was all we could think about, and it was just what we needed. As it turned out, I left Children's Hospital the day before J.P. arrived, but I had a second chance to meet him a little later in life.
While writing for a Seattle-area Community College newspaper, I was assigned a "human interest" story of my choosing. I knew immediately that I'd use my community college journalist "credentials" as my ticket to interview J.P. Patches. I arranged to interview J.P. at the KIRO studios during his morning broadcast. I brought along my notepad and a portable cassette tape recorder. I remember walking through the KIRO TV lobby and seeing all of the portraits of the News Team and other station personalities, and I was escorted back to a room just outside of where J.P. was on-the-air performing his live show. I was getting a little nervous, wondering just what I had gotten myself into, and then at the first commercial break, in walked J.P. I think I was a little afraid that my childhood vision of J.P. Patches might be shattered. After all, I was there to interview him, not ask for his autograph or tell him how I missed seeing him years ago at Children's Hospital, or tell him how much he meant to me in my life. I remember thinking, what if he's just some guy who does this kids show, and the character of J.P. is just this artificial invention. When he introduced himself and shook my hand, he was just as genuine, kind and engaged as he was on television. As he sat down to talk with me, I knew he was the real thing, and I was tremendously relieved. I asked him questions about how he got his start in television, and he talked about his time in Minneapolis and some of the characters he did there, like "Chuckwagon Chuck", and then it was time for him to go back on the air. He let me stay around for the whole show, and we talked more during the cartoons and commercials, and then he showed me around the rest of the studio, and I saw the set where they did the News and I got to see the cameras and talk to some of the technicians and other staff. I felt so comfortable and was made to feel so welcomed.
Something that impressed me so much in my time wandering around behind-the-scenes of the KIRO studio with J.P., was just how much he loved his job and the people he worked with there. In one conversation, one of the camera operators mentioned how the CBS Network had recently and significantly improved the audio quality range of their live broadcasts and how on the daytime soaps you could now hear the camera cables snap over the air when the big cameras were moved around and positioned. J.P. was excited to hear about it, and I could tell from just that little glimpse how much he loved being in broadcasting, having seen all of the technical developments from the early days of television. I remember the energy of it being "live television", and I could see that J.P. was completely in his element and so much enjoying the fun, creativity and challenge of putting together his show as it was beamed out to the masses throughout the Seattle region.
I last saw J.P. in person last year at the Fisherman's Festival, and he was just as I had remembered. I know from being in that crowd that day, and from hearing so many stories over the years, and from the outpouring of his many Patches Pals over the last 24 hours, that the experience I had of J.P. Patches and the man, Mr. Chris Wedes, is multiplied by so many thousands, likely hundreds of thousands whose lives were forever enriched by a kind, funny, creative and gentle man who none of us will ever forget.
--by David La France
