Patti McGee was the first woman to skateboard professionally and the first winner of the women’s division of the National Skateboard Championships.
- Died: October 16, 2024 (Who else died on October 16?)
- Details of death: Died at her home in Brea, California of complications from a stroke at the age of 79.
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Patti McGee’s legacy
McGee was already a seasoned surfer before she began skateboarding as a teen, using a board her brother had made in shop class with the wheels from her roller skates attached to a piece of wood. She quickly excelled and fell in love with what she described as “skiing down a slope without snow.” Her discovery of skateboarding coincided with a new craze that started in California in the early 1960s and spread around the country in the years that followed. By 1964, the first National Skateboard Championship was held, and McGee won the women’s division at the age of 19.
Among the skills that brought McGee her pioneering victory was her handstand trick. She could flip to her hands and ride her skateboard upside down with ease, and the sought-after maneuver was what made her a star. She was photographed for the cover of Life magazine doing a handstand on her skateboard, and that image helped launch McGee’s professional career. She traveled the country representing the skateboard brand Hobie, making appearances at department stores and on such TV shows as “What’s My Line?” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”
As skateboarding fell temporarily out of fashion in the late 1960s, McGee stepped away from her pro career and began focusing on snow skiing instead. But skateboarding wasn’t gone forever, and as it again became popular, McGee and her daughter Hailey launched the company Original Betty, selling boards and clothing.
McGee on her transition from surfing to skateboarding
“You had to have some action. In the afternoon, the beach break always blows out and I wasn’t ready to go home and do my homework, so we skateboarded up and down the street in Ocean Beach. We started skating the hill on Loring Street in Pacific Beach. That was a challenge. That was like surfing a big wave, if you could make it. I also hung out at Windansea and there were a couple of hills there, so we skated that. It was anything to be rowdy.” — from a 2017 interview for Juice
Tributes to Patti McGee
Full obituary: The Washington Post
