Pat Peters was awarded the prestigious honour – a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) – for her extraordinary service to athletics.
Pat Peters invested an astonishing 70 years of continuous service to SA athletics, starting from Ellis Park to Kensington to Mile End – from 1946 to 2016 – with her passing.
Such was her devotion to athletics that she and partner, Geoff, planned their wedding and the arrival of their four children just prior to November – the start of the summer competition season.
All children arrived, as planned, in late September and early October.
Extending the family legacy, the girls grew up at the athletic track – from birth to their late teens – and eventually also became athletes and officials.
In preparation for competition, the lanes for the track needed to be marked out each week and equipment distributed. Pat and Geoff Peters were the reliable volunteers in this process and in the packing up at day’s end.
As officials were in short supply, and while still competing, Pat took up officiating, initially specialising as a finish judge.
She graduated to the Controller of Officials, a position she held for 40 years. She employed the philosophy of never asking an official to do a job that she wasn’t prepared to do herself. Her friendly nick name became Sarge!
In addition to the winter season, she also directed officials for State, School and interclub competitions, the Police Games, and Masters competitions including the Masters in Alice Springs.
June 1988, Pat Peters was awarded an AM – Member of the Order of Australia for her long and diligent service to amateur athletics. It is noteworthy that she continued her service for a further 27 years after receiving the award.
In 2006, she was selected to be a torch bearer for the 2006 Commonwealth Games and is a life member of five organisations – Athletics Australia, Athletics SA, Western Districts Club, Western Districts Runners Club and SA Masters Athletics Patroness.
She was also Patroness of the City Bay Fun Run committee, of which she was part of the inaugural committee – and stayed for 27 years – and also volunteered on the run for 27 years.
Before the men and women’s associations combined to form Athletics SA, Pat Peters held multiple positions with the South Australian Women’s Amateur Athletic Association:
