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Part of Route 31 to be dedicated to fallen North Aurora soldier

Drivers passing through North Aurora will now be reminded of the sacrifice one of the town's residents made for this country.

The renaming of Route 31 as "Spc. Christopher Patterson Memorial Highway" will be marked with a ceremony Saturday.

The highway signs will be unveiled at a ceremony at noon at the northeast corner of the highway and State Street.

Patterson, a 2009 graduate of West Aurora High School, was a specialist in the 713th Engineer Company of the Indiana Army National Guard. He and three fellow soldiers were killed Jan. 6, 2012, by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

Patterson, 20, had taken leave from his studies as a music education major at Valparaiso University to serve the overseas deployment.

"Despite receiving an authorized exception on his deployment to complete his studies, Spc. Patterson, embodying the true spirit of patriotism and bravery, volunteered to accompany his unit on its deployment," read an Illinois Senate resolution, passed in January, that called for renaming the highway. His mother, Mary, said that officers had offered to assign Patterson duties on-base, but that he had refused.

Patterson was a sapper, patrolling and repairing combat routes for convoys.

Patterson is the son of Robert and Mary Patterson. The family had a tradition of military service. Robert retired from the Navy, Mary served in the Naval Reserves, a son served in the Air Force and another in the Marines.

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Indiana National Guardsman Spc. Christopher Patterson of North Aurora, shown here in his high school senior portrait, was killed in Afghanistan in January 2012. The state has renamed part of Route 31 through town after him. Courtesy of West Aurora High School
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