On April 5, 2004 George Z. Patten died of a heart attack in the garden of his home in Signal Mountain, TN. Bome, as he much preferred to be known, was a Chattanooga area native. He came to Dartmouth from The Lawrenceville School - where he early displayed his enduring love of music by founding a country music band called "Zeb Patten and his Backwoods Boys". Bome was a sociology major and a member of Theta Delta Chi.

Much of Bome's career was spent as a writer, lecturer, and consultant in the field of alcohol rehabilitation. He had an intimate knowledge of his subject, having had his own battle with alcoholism - which he won. Subsequently, Beau wrote five books, including "You Too Can Stop Drinking". He owned a chain of community newspapers and was also the publisher of a number of books by other authors writing on treating addiction. Bome was the founding director of a Chattanooga area residential treatment center for addicted young persons.

Bome is survived by his wife, Mary Jo, five children, a sister and brother-in-law, George "Blackie" Smith '52.