Funeral Services Set for Former Baylor Ad Jack Patterson

WACO, Texas - Jack Patterson, former Baylor University athletic director and track coach, died at his home Dec. 17. He was 82.
Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Austin Avenue United Methodist Church in Waco, and the Rev. John Luckert will officiate.
Born in the West Texas town of Merkel, Patterson received a bachelor of science degree from Rice University where he was a Southwest Conference champion in track. After coaching stints at Merkel and San Angelo, he became track coach for the University of Houston.
Patterson became Baylor's track coach in 1956 and won his first of three Southwest Conference track titles in 1960. He was subsequently named Southwest Conference Coach of the Year, the first non-football coach to win that honor. In 1963, Patterson left Baylor to become track coach for the University of Texas where he won three more Southwest Conference titles.
Patterson returned to Baylor in 1971 to begin a nine-year tenure as athletic director. When he took over the position, the school had one of the most disregarded programs in the Southwest Conference. That year, Patterson hired Grant Teaff as head football coach, and three years later, Baylor won its first SWC football title in 50 years. In 1980, Patterson was elected to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. He retired as athletic director that same year.
Dave Campbell, former sports editor of the Waco Tribune Herald, said that Patterson was "the architect of the school's amazing athletic resurgence during the 1970s," while the 1977 Baylor media guide said, "A first-class athletic program must reflect the character, know-how and initiative of a first-class administrator, and Baylor University has a true champion in Jack Patterson." Patterson was a member of the Baylor and Rice Halls of Fame.
Patterson was married to the former Lois Whiteley and had two children, Dr. Jack C. Patterson of Austin and Mrs. David Sibley of Waco. Patterson is survived by six grandchildren, Rachel Sibley, Adam Sibley, Jonathan Sibley, Cole Patterson, Bret Patterson and Chris Patterson.
Memorials may be made to the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex or the Jack and Lois Patterson Endowed Track Scholarship, both at Baylor University.