Pat Hitchcock
by Tim White
Springdale resident Pat Hitchcock recently passed away at age 89. Her residence of over 40 years was a simple farmhouse at the end of Sutter Drive. In 1996, she sold her farm of 160 acres to the county, to adjoin parkland given by Delma Donald Woodburn. Her lease agreement entitled her to stay in her residence on the farm.
However, the Dane County Parks Department got much more than land in the purchase. Pat would remain the driving force behind the successes of the park until her death. Her tireless work for the park's behalf has established Donald Park as a premier area resource.
Each Tuesday Pat would ready the volunteers who spend a morning a week on park chores. She could be counted on, not only for leadership but as a worker as well. She worked a liaison between the park and other groups. She did outreach with Scout troops, church groups and the schools for environmental education. Hitchcock’s home served as ground zero for park activities. With a keen interest in the area’s heritage, she promoted research projects, which explored both native and settlement history.
However, to understand Pat’s exuberance for the area’s environment, and her community spirit, one has to understand what led her to Springdale. It would be difficult to list the endless adventures Pat had during her long life. Nor would it be possible in this article to relay the hardships endured, or the accomplishments achieved by this woman.
Pat Hitchcock was born on Connecticut farm in 1919. Adventure called to her at an early age. She purchased an Indian motorcycle and toured the country. This was certainly not the norm for young women at that time, but Pat would continually break with convention throughout her life.
It was during a motorcycle adventure, she learned that th
e Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. Upon learning of America’s participation in the war, she heard her country call. For the war effort, she went to work in an aircraft factory. She volunteered with the Red Cross, and was stationed in France at the end of the European conflict. She would stay on the continent and attend the Nuremberg trials.
She embarked on a 1,200-mile bicycle trip to promote the European hostil system. Back in America she bicycled through California and while touring the back lots of the movie studios. Humphrey Bogart met with her in the lot. He wanted to meet the woman who had biked so far.
Her love of nature led her to the University of Massachusetts, where she studied environmental sciences. This perhaps led to her becoming the Massachusetts’ first woman state park ranger.
She met her future husband John while he was serving in the Navy. His anthropology studies would lead the couple to Vermont as well as UCLA. Pat would work beside her husband as they studied and recorded cultures in far away India, Nepal and Denmark. Pat became an accomplished documentary filmmaker and photographer. Her work is now housed in the Smithsonian archives.
In 1967 while John was at the University of Wisconsin, the couple settled in Springdale, on what was the Harold Larson Farm. She worked hard on the farm, and always embraced a strenuous lifestyle. Even with those rigors, and while raising a family, she made time for area youth. She remained part of the Malone Mother’s Club as well. She was particularly active in the Young Life program.
For more on Pat Hitchock go to: http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=22773