5540 River Road, Donalsonville, GA 39845
Larry “Pat” McFadden was born in Southwest Georgia, the only child of Florry (Flo) and Mack McFadden on Aug. 8, 1947. Mack, a former sharpshooter in WWI, took Pat everywhere with him and taught his son how to hunt while in the pecan orchard. Mack gave Pat one bullet at a time while he was learning and would only give the young Pat another bullet if he shot a pecan-eating squirrel.
Despite being financially comfortable, Mack was frugal-minded and wanted his son to grow up appreciating things and not be spoiled or entitled. Pat was also very close to his mom and sent her flowers every year on his birthday; one for each year of his life.
Pat spent his early childhood in Pelham, GA, and attended high school in Lee County, GA. A school administrator once found Pat at the local pool hall one day while Pat was skipping school. He often found himself frustrated with school, because he wanted to learn certain things the school was not equipped to teach. Despite leaving school in the 10th grade Pat was still awarded his high school diploma by the principal, who delivered it to Pat’s house on the day of his high school graduation.
Blessed with ferocious curiosity, Pat continued to learn his whole life. He read constantly and loved doing crossword puzzles in ink. He loved singing, dancing, Christmas, and as an adult Pat wanted to go to Disney every year.
Pat was a diligent worker in all his business dealings and never expected a handout. He went on to become a very talented sign maker, creating beautiful sign work all by hand. He was also an airplane mechanic, pilot, welder, boat builder, captain, artist, a fortunate stock market investor, pool shark, and expert marksman. Pat was always taking things apart. So, his partner, Angela, placed a quote above his desk: “Resist to the temptation to take things apart!”
Pat was widely known in the national Nipperhead historical talking machine community. In just five years, he accumulated a museum-quality collection of rare and beautiful music boxes.
Pat was also an avid hunter and fisherman, both in the United States and internationally. One of his favorite activities was hunting turkey. He was such a talented turkey caller that one day a bobcat responded to his call, pouncing on his back. This attack landed Pat at the doctor’s office for rabies shots! Pat loved Africa, and a large part of his heart was there. Pat believed that hunting was a valuable conservation tool, with proceeds contributing to the health of the population and funding important conservation efforts.
In 1999, Pat, with his life partner Angela Hagen and his friend Raymond Wilson, established the Lokchasassa Wilderness Project, a 1,240-acre Garden of Eden in Seminole County to protect native plants and wildlife. After Pat’s death, the project was renamed the McFadden Nature Center. The property will be protected in perpetuity for future generations.
After purchasing the property, Pat and his team of friends began working to restore it. They removed a dump truck load of bailing twine from the pasture, several truckloads of garbage from the woods, and approximately 25 miles of old fencing that was dangerous to wildlife. They repaired wetland dams and designed water control devices to help restore and improve the habitat quality for animals, birds, and fish. Pat also did major work to thin the pine trees, create food plots for wildlife, and conduct controlled burns to eliminate invasive species.
Pat also learned from his mistakes. After feeding a small alligator named Roscoe for months, he realized why people should not feed alligators when Roscoe ran at him at full attack speed!
He loved birdhouses and he placed numerous bluebirds, wood ducks, owls, and bat boxes around the property. He equipped the bluebird and duck boxes with predator guards to prevent snakes from eating the eggs or hatchlings. Today McFadden Nature Center continues improving the land, investing in wildlife, and creating more opportunities for native life to flourish onsite.
In 2002, Pat helped set up Paws (People for the Welfare of Animals in the South) with Angela and Raymond. In five years, they managed to rescue 1,800 dogs and cats, spay/neuter them and find them forever families.
We are privileged to continue the work that he started and bring the McFadden Nature Center to life for the benefit of the wildlife, the land, and our community.
We strive to provide opportunities that Pat desired for our community:
For children to learn from experiences regardless of economic factors.
To help people learn to love nature and care for it.
To help underprivileged and precocious children because of his own childhood experiences.
To build a nature center for children who may not be able to travel and see other parts of the world.
We hope that the new McFadden Nature Center will be “windows to the world,” helping children understand there is more to see than just our little corner of the world. Here at the McFadden Nature Center, children can discover other places to go and learn from. By integrating Africa and Southwest Georgia into our museum, people can learn about the similarities and differences in both places and people everywhere.
Pat said, “You should leave this world better than when you came into it.” And he did.
