By Graham Smith PUBLISHED: 03:16 EST, 17 July 2012 | UPDATED: 11:18 EST, 17 July 2012 A man in the final stages of terminal cancer wrote his own obituary shortly before he died last week and used the opportunity to come clean about his past. Friends and family of Val Patterson, 59, learned on Sunday that the man they thought held a doctorate from the University of Utah only received the degree thanks to a paperwork mistake. Even more of a surprise was the revelation that the engineer had never even graduated. Humour: Val Patterson, 59, pictured with his wife Mary Jane, wrote his own obituary during the final stages of terminal cancer. He used it to confess to several misdeeds during his lifetime
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Val Patterson, 59, died from throat cancer last week
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He wrote his own light-hearted obituary when it was clear his medical condition was worsening
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Friends and family learned on Sunday that Mr Patterson only held a doctorate from the University of Utah thanks to a paperwork mistake
Every moment spent with my @placeholder was time spent wisely.