Oakland County Executive Lewis Brooks Patterson dies of pancreatic cancer

The County Executive of Oakland County in Michigan, Lewis Brooks Patterson has died on Saturday at the age of 80, according to media reports. He was battling with pancreatic cancer and left this world at his Oakland County home.

A native Detroiter, known for bashing his hometown, often in racially charged terms, Patterson had been in declining health since a 2012 auto accident forced him to use a wheelchair most of the time. He announced his diagnosis of stage 4 cancer in a March 26 news conference at the county's executive office building, which bears his name.

Patterson faced criticism after comments he made about the city of Detroit, widely seen as "controversial" and "negative", were released in an article entitled "Drop Dead, Detroit!". Patterson was quoted as saying, among other things, "What we're going to do is turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and corn."

Patterson graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy in 1957. He received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Detroit, and his Juris Doctor in 1967 from its law school.[2] In 2005, he was Alumnus of the Year at his alma mater.