William A. "Pat" Patterson was the President of United Airlines from 1934 until 1966. Patterson was born on a sugarcane plantation in Waipahu on Oahu, Hawaii. When Patterson was 13, his widowed mother moved to San Francisco, California, while he remained at Honolulu Military Academy. Not liking the academy, he decided to leave. He persuaded a captain to allow him to work on his ship in exchange for passage to San Francisco.
