David was born in Hall Green, Birmingham on July 15 1941, the second of four sons of Leonard and Marjorie Patrick. From King Edward's School, Birmingham, he went to Durham University to read English & Philosophy, gaining a II.2 degree in 1962. After contemplating ordination in the Methodist Church, he taught briefly in a secondary modern school in Birmingham before completing a PGCE in Bristol in 1965. He became a school-master first at Bristol Cathedral School and then at Kingswood School, a Methodist foundation in Bath.In 1972 he moved back to Birmingham and, after gaining a Diploma in the Teaching of English at the University, joined the staff at King Edward VI Five Ways, a co-educational voluntary-aided school. There for 25 years he taught English to A-level and for Oxbridge entrance with some success, and was much appreciated by his pupils. Always keen on outdoor activities from his time as a Scout leader at school and an Outward Bound course in Scotland, David enjoyed activity weeks at Tyn-y-Waen, the Five Ways School Cottage in Powis, and walking holidays in Snowdonia. He was a keen squash and volley-ball player.
After early retirement in 1998 he blossomed as a voluntary hospital visitor and was the literature expert at the OXFAM bookshop in Harborne. In 2001 his 40 years' service as a Methodist Local Preacher was celebrated at his church in Selly Oak where he had served as a steward and Church Council secretary. His last sermon was preached at Bank Chapel near Mow Cop, Staffordshire on July 23 2006 in a service to celebrate the centenary of his father’s birth. He never married but in his later years he enjoyed the companionship of his fiancée Sheila Wilkins with whom he bought a house in Bournville and holidayed in Italy. He died on December 12 in St Mary’s Hospice, Selly Oak, Birmingham, after a short illness. He will be sadly missed by Sheila, his brothers John and Peter, the wider Patrick family, and his many friends.
