Graveside services for Donald M. Paterson Jr., 77, of Brookhaven, will be at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 27 at Leland-Stoneville Cemetery, Stoneville.

For his many former students and local friends there will be a celebration of life to be held at a future date at the Inez Apartment House Lobby, 104 East Monticello Avenue, Brookhaven. He died at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson on Oct. 22. Arrangements are under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Leland.

He was born in Leland on May 5, 1938, to Donald M. and Mary Bess Paterson. He attended the Leland Public Schools, graduating in 1956. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi, and a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also studied at the University of Texas for a time.

He was a teacher, first at Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Florida. He later taught in the Advanced Placement Program for the Brookhaven Public School System for almost 30 years, retiring recently to enjoy his reading interests and some private instruction in Brookhaven.

He is survived by brother James R. Paterson (Lynn) of Oxford, Niece Beth Paterson Edwards (Shelby) of Dunwoody, Georgia; Nephew Tommy Paterson (Lori) of Knoxville, Tennessee; and former students and good friends.