Bob "Patches" Waite, a long time friend in magic and clowning, passed away on June 25th, 2016 at the age of 85 after battling lung cancer for months. He will be dearly missed by those in the many organizations in which he participated, including the Ann Arbor Magic Club, the Clowns Around Redford, the Mid-West Clown Association and the Civil Air Patrol in which he was recently promoted to the rank of Major. I know that there were other organizations that he was a part of as well.
Bob was an active adult leader in the Boy Scouts of America in the Redford area and a member of the Yankee Air Force which operates out of Willow Run Airport, restoring and preserving vintage aircraft. He was a supporter of the Parade Company in Detroit, helping maintain and prepare the floats for the Thanksgiving Day Parade. He would also appear as Patches the Clown at the Hob Nobble Gobble, a fund raising party before the parade.
Bob truly loved the circus and was inspired to create his Hobo clown character by Emmet Kelly himself. There may have been a little influence from Red Skelton thrown in the mix too. He attended the Red Skelton Clown Camp, held in Indiana, in the not so distant past. Bob would share stories of performing at the circus with clown alleys in the Detroit area and Lansing. When the Kelly Miller Circus would appear in Redford, he made arrangements with the Ring Master for he and I to appear in clown character to meet and greet the circus going patrons. And at the age of 80, he climbed atop an elephant on two different occasions for a ride and a photo opportunity.
Bob will be dearly missed by his friends, family and all those in the clubs and organizatios in which he belonged and served. Farewell, Good Friend.
Dan Jones
