Sandra Patton’s Tucson family holds an almost unbreakable record for Pima County Sports Hall of Fame inductees. "We're at five and counting," she told me last week.
The Norm and Sandra Patton family sit down to watch a UA Final Four game in 1997. Norm won three state titles as the Marana High School basketball coach.
Sandra's late husband, Norm Patton, a multiple-state championship basketball coach at Marana High and Pima College's first basketball coach, was inducted in 2000. Her daughter, Kelly Fowler, a five-time state championship softball coach at Canyon del Oro High, was inducted in 2012. Another of Sandra's daughters, Vickie Patton, part of Marana High's 1982 state championship basketball team, was inducted with her team in 2021.
Sandra's granddaughter, Kenzie Fowler Quinn, the national Gatorade softball player of the year at CDO in 2009 and a UA standout, was inducted in 2022. Last week, Sandra's daughter, Patty Patton Shearer, was inducted with her 1997 Catalina Foothills High girls basketball team, 31-2, state champions.
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University of Arizona pitcher Kenzie Fowler, left, hugs Canyon del Oro ace Mattie Fowler, her sister, after the Dorados beat Cienega in the 2011 Class 4A-I state title game at Cherry Field. CDO finished the season 35-1.
Who's next? Sandra's granddaughter Mattie Fowler seems sure to make the list. In 2011, Mattie led the 35-1 CDO softball team, perhaps the best in Tucson history, by hitting .569 with a state record 91 RBIs while going 17-0 as a pitcher. She went on to help Nebraska to multiple NCAA Tournaments. Mattie has since returned to Tucson and is now the director of development at the UA's Eller College of Business.
Sandra and Norm Patton moved to Tucson 60 years ago from their humble beginnings in and near Silver City, New Mexico. Good move.
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