When L. Brooks Patterson passed away on Aug. 3 at the age of 80, Oakland County lost a longtime leader who left an indelible mark on just about everything he touched, from government to the local economy.

But to Addison Township Supervisor Bruce Pearson, the loss was that of a longtime friend who had a strong influence on the way he’s governed his community for the last 11 years.

“He was my mentor,” said Pearson, who was elected in 2008. “What I brought to the township was stuff that I learned from him. It was his values that made me run for office. With what I had learned working at the county, I knew I could make a difference out here.”

Patterson, who had served as county executive since January 1993, died at 5:30 a.m. in his Independence Township home following complications from cancer. On March 26, he announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.

“I will truly, truly miss that man,” Pearson said. “No matter where you went in the state, everybody knew Brooks Patterson’s name. He was an icon.”

Pearson first met Patterson in the 1970s when they were both working in law enforcement.

Patterson served as county prosecutor from January 1973 through December 1988. Pearson was a police officer who began his career with the Pontiac Township (now Auburn Hills) Police Department in 1976, then moved to the county sheriff’s office in 1979 and remained there until retiring in 2008.

While Pearson stayed in law enforcement, Patterson, a Republican, went on to be elected county executive in 1992 and win re-election six times. He was in the midst of his seventh term when he passed away.

Pearson recalled Patterson was good to him and his fellow officers. Whenever Patterson would see them eating in a restaurant, he would “pick up the tab.”

“He always did that for the deputies,” the supervisor said.

As a county employee, Pearson began learning from Patterson and “studying his methods.”

While other employees would grumble that the pay raises Patterson handed out weren’t “big enough,” Pearson said he was grateful that the county executive worked hard to ensure their health insurance and retirement plans were “secure.”

“He always looked out for the employees (when it came to safeguarding the benefits they would receive) later on in life,” he said. “You can’t give the farm away every year (in pay raises) and do that.”

Fiscal responsibility was one of the main things Pearson gleaned from Patterson and worked to incorporate in Addison’s government.

For example, whenever the county executive built a facility or undertook a new project, Pearson said, “It was always ahead of schedule and under budget.”

“Just because they give you a certain amount of money, doesn’t mean you have to spend it all. You can spend less and get it done ahead of time,” the supervisor said.

That was the spirit with which Pearson approached constructing Addison’s new township hall in 2015-16. That facility was built for $1.76 million, well under the $2.4 million budget approved for it.

When it comes to the budgeting process, Pearson said Patterson taught him the importance of looking ahead and projecting for multiple years, as opposed to doing one-year budgets and “flying by the seat of your pants,” which leaves you vulnerable to getting “caught short” at some point.

The county budget is currently balanced through 2024 because it adopts balanced three-year budgets with five-year outlooks. This has helped the county keep the AAA bond rating it has had since 1998.

Finances aside, Patterson also taught Pearson the value of assembling a good team, something he’s tried to do in Addison. He said Patterson had a “gift” for putting “the right people in the right positions,” so they could “excel.”

“He told me, ‘I’m not the smartest guy always on everything, but I have a talent for picking the smartest people,’” Pearson said. “He always surrounded himself with the most talented people . . . That makes all the difference in the world.”

Under Patterson, Oakland reached full employment, which means having an unemployment rate that’s under 5 percent. His Emerging Sectors, Medical Main Street and Tech248 initiatives attracted more than $5.2 billion in private investment that created or retained more than 91,000 jobs. More than 1,100 firms from 39 foreign countries are operating in the county.

“He knew what it took to bring business into this county,” Pearson said.

Patterson helped launch Main Street Oakland County (MSOC), which supports development in the county’s 32 downtown areas. Under MSOC, the downtowns have experienced more than $706 million in investment, which launched 971 new businesses and created approximately 7,100 jobs.

When asked if he thought the county would have enjoyed this level of prosperity under someone other than Patterson, Pearson immediately replied, “No way.”

“It was him,” he said. “You have to have one person like him to grab the bull by the horns and steer the county. He steered it in the right direction. He could see the future. Without him at the helm, we wouldn’t be anywhere close to where we are.”

Lessons and achievements aside, Pearson said the things he’s going to miss most about Patterson are his “candor” and his sense of humor, both of which never failed to find their way into his speeches.

Pearson frequently attended his State of the County addresses, which were never boring thanks to the late county executive’s sharp wit.

“When he was talking, you always wanted more,” the supervisor said. “You didn’t want him to quit.”

Pearson will also miss the way Patterson often dispensed “words of wisdom” and “words of encouragement.”

“Every time I would talk to him, he would always tell me, ‘You’re doing a great job,’” he said. “He always gave me confidence.”

The supervisor will never forget how Patterson took time out of his busy schedule to attend the open house and ribbon-cutting for the new Addison hall in 2016. Pearson said that was the only favor he ever asked of Patterson and the county executive delivered on his promise.

“We had a crowd of people that came to the opening to see him,” he said.

Without Patterson, Pearson believes Oakland faces an uncertain future. “I don’t know what direction the county’s going to go in now,” he said. “I think things are going to totally change.”