Patricia Ann Damron

Patricia Ann Damron

Patricia Ann Damron, 84, passed on Sunday, March 21, 2021. Pat was born June 8, 1936, in Saute Ste. Marie, Michigan, the only child of John Elijah Voce and Violet Ruth Whiting. Pat and her father moved to Arizona when she was just a teenager. She was a lifelong horse woman. She acquired her first albino mare, Snow Girl at a very young age, and competed in many horseshows across the state in high school on hunter jumper 'Schoolboy'. As a young adult Pat was a champion barrel racer, frequently square danced on horseback at the San Xavier Mission, and followed the rodeo circuit. Later, she became the owner of the Copper Tower Training Stables, providing horse boarding, student riding lessons, annual Stake-Fry events in the Catalina mountains, as well as loaning horses for several John Wayne movies and other westerns. She and her horse, Witch Doctor led some of her riding students to compete at Madison Square Gardens. Later, she transitioned to training racehorses, earning standings as a top woman trainer at Rillito Racetrack and Prescott Downs, finishing her racing career at Turf Paradise. She was an amazing woman who was loved by many and touched many lives. Pat is survived by her two daughters, Tricia Sammons of Springfield, KY, and Terry Koktavy (Scott) of Tucson, AZ; 4 Grandchildren, Rich (Misha), Ashlee, Zach, and Heather; and 8 great-grandchildren.