MANHATTAN – Pat Hartman, the wife of the late Kansas State Hall of Fame head coach Jack Hartman, died on Wednesday at the age of 94, the family announced earlier today.
Hartman will be laid to rest in a private family graveside service in Manhattan.
Born Patricia S. DiVall on March 9, 1926, Hartman grew up in Shidler, Oklahoma before graduating from Shidler High School and earning an associate’s degree in business from Oklahoma State. She married Jack Hartman on June 6, 1947, following him to head coaching stints at Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College (1955-62), Southern Illinois (1962-70) and K-State (1970-86). They were married for 51 years before his death in 1998.
Jack Hartman won 587 games in his 30-year head coaching career, including a school-record 295 at K-State during his 16-year stint. He won three Big Eight regular-season championships (1972, 1973, 1977) and two Big Eight Tournament titles (1977, 1980) and led the Wildcats to eight postseason appearances, including seven in the NCAA Tournament. He is one of only a select number of head coaches to win a junior college national championship (1962 at Coffeyville) and the NIT title (1967 at SIU), while he came to within one game of the Final Four on four occasions at K-State, advancing to the Elite Eight in 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1981. He was honored as the National Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) after the 1980-81 season.
Hartman coached a number of future pros, including Walt Frazier at Southern Illinois, and Wildcat legends Rolando Blackman, Mike Evans, Lon Kruger, Ed Nealy and Chuckie Williams. In all, he coached 10 All-Americans, five Big Eight Players of the Year and 16 first team All-Big Eight selections at K-State.
Pat Hartman remained a fixture at K-State sporting events until her passing, while she was active in her church – the First United Methodist Church – as well as the bridge table and golf course.
Hartman is survived by three daughters: Jana Hartman Perkins (husband Ed) of Corinth, Texas, Davy Hartman Campbell (husband Jim) of Liberty, Missouri and Jackie Hartman Borck (husband Lee) of Manhattan, three grandchildren (Christopher, Michael and Stephanie), two great-grandchildren (Norah Ann and Jack Henry) and a sister Dorothy Douglas of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Online condolences can be left for the family on the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home website at http://www.ymlfuneralhome.com/obituary/6530.
Memorial contributions may be made to either the First United Methodist Church, Kansas State University Foundation for the Jack Hartman Athletic Scholarship Fund or the Meadowlark Hills Good Samaritan Fund.