Pat Jackson

Patricia Lou "Pat" Jackson, a standout in tennis and golf who won many local, national and international tournaments in both sports, passed away on July 31 from complications of a stroke. She was 87 years old.

Pat was born in Amarillo, Texas on October 9, 1927. She got her first set of golf clubs at age 7 and a tennis racket shortly thereafter. Before long, she was snaring practically every golf trophy and tennis title in reach. She accepted a scholarship to play tennis at the University of Arizona and won several championships while there, including the Southwestern US doubles crown. She graduated from U of A with a degree in psychology.

Right out of college, Pat accepted a position abroad with the State Department as a recreation director for American personnel in southern Germany during the post WWII occupation. While in Europe, she became one of the few American women at the time to climb to the summit of the Matterhorn. (Thirty years later, ever the adventurer, Pat headed to the Himalayas to trek in the Annapura range).

When she returned to the U.S., she was soon collecting titles again, winning the 1954 Texas Women’s Public Golf Championship. But her heart was in Arizona where she soon founded Ski and Spur Camp for Girls in Flagstaff with her long-time friend Jaye Collier. Later she ran Laughing Lakes Camp in Pine Top and Lakeview Lodge in Lakeside. In the 1960s and early '70s Pat worked for the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department as Social and Cultural Supervisor.

Never far from a tennis court or golf course, Pat continued to play and compete. She was inducted into the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, and the University of Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. She was a regular on the senior tennis circuit, winning medals in US National Senior Olympics and U.S. Tennis Association tournaments. In 2013, after winning majors on four surfaces, known as the Gold Slam, she was awarded a trip to the U.S. Open, where she was introduced by legendary tennis player Stan Smith. That same year she represented the US in the Friendship Cup and in the European Senior Open, won the mixed doubles championship in the age 75

category, even though she was 85!

For the past two decades, Pat worked in the Phoenix area as an independent land broker, but she found time every year to return to Waldemar Camp, where she coached as a young woman, to reunite with many friends in the Texas hill country.

Pat Jackson will be remembered for her outgoing personality, hearty laugh, enduring energy, insatiable curiosity, generous spirit, "smashing" play at the net, and amazing ability to make friends wherever she went. She was truly "larger than life."

Pat was predeceased by her parents, Aubrey and Katherine

Jackson, her sister Shirley Casstevens, and her friend and business partner Jaye Collier. She is survived by her nieces and nephew, Kay, Cindy and Randy Casstevens, her house-mates Barbara and Andy Jackson, and her multitude of friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to favorite charities in Pat’s name. Special thanks to the doctors and nurses at the Mayo Clinic, and the staff of Sherman House hospice. A celebration of Pat’s wonderful life will be held in Phoenix at a later date.