The late Pat Perrine was a true story of the small school farm boy who never saw a football game until he arrived in Moscow to attend the University of Idaho in 1916. A native of Nezperce, Idaho, he entered the Agriculture College at U of I and tried out for the football team the first year he was eligible and made the varsity.
Next came basketball and then track. When he finished at Idaho he had accumulated nine letters in three sports and was one of the most outstanding athletes ever to graduate from Idaho. He was captain of the track team in 1920, his junior year and then was selected to the 1920 Olympic team which was to participate in the Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Pat was rushed back to Moscow just in time to take part in football for the fall of 1920. Records which at that time were outstanding, included a 43' shot put, 6''1." high jump, 179 ft. javelin toss, 10 '1 O" in the pole vault, a 15.4 timing in the 120 hurdles and a 10.1 timing in the 100 yard dash made him an outstanding pentathlon and decathlon star.
Following his graduation from Idaho in 1921 , he started coaching at Cascade, Montana, and then in 192 7, he and his wife Laura (Spogen} gave up teaching and opened a service station and garage in Cascade until his retirement in 1951 . During these years he was known as one of the finest amateur basketball players in the area and played and coached for more than 33 years, Following their retirement, the Perrine family owned some farm land which he worked until the time of his death. He was a member of the Cascade Volunteer Fire Dept. for 43 years and also donated land for a park and swimming pool to the city of Cascade. In 1976 Perrine was honored as the Cascade high school football field and track was named "Perrine Field" in his honor.
Pat, who passed away in a boating accident at the age of 85, is survived by his wife, Laura, in a nursing home in Cascade. He is also survived by a sister Nettie, nephews and nieces Jim and Mary Baker and Madeline Baker of Great Falls, and nephew Mark Perrine of Nezperce will accept the plaque for Pat at the ceremonies.