The city of Seattle renamed a section of 34th Street as as J.P. Patches Place in a ceremony on June 1, 2013, honoring Chris Wedes, who portrayed J.P Patches for over 50 years. The street sign was unveiled by Wedes’ granddaughter, Christina. Chris Wedes’s wife Joan, along with Robert Newman, who was J.P. Patches long time sidekick were also at the ceremony.
For those of us from Minnesota, we remember Chris Wedes as J.P. Patches, but also Joe the Cook, from the mid 50’s on WTCN. Chris took over the role of J.P. Patches from Daryl Laub in 1955 on Channel 11. As Joe the Cook, he was the sidekick to Roger Aswumb’s Casey Jones, and hosted his own afternoon show called Cartoon Carnival. In 1958, Wedes moved to Seattle where J.P. Patches became a local institution.
Here is a local news report on the event