PATTI HEFFNER PASSED AWAY

It is with great sadness that I received news early on Tuesday morning that Patti Heffner, one of the best female athletes and basketball coaches in Lehigh Valley sports history, has passed away.

Heffner had been battling brain cancer for much of the past year. She fought valiantly against the tumors just as she did throughout her athletic career, but died early this morning, Jan. 5. She was taken from her home and into hospice care on Monday.

I am not 100 percent, but I believe the 1976 Dieruff High graduate was 51.

The basic facts of her career are that she was a two-time state champion as a player at Dieruff with the championships coming in 1975 and '76.

She went on to a Hall of Fame college career as a player at Rutgers and served as an an assistant coach at Lafayette upon returning to the Lehigh Valley

But she made perhaps her most profound mark as a high school coach, guiding Catasauqua to the 1988 PIAA Class 2A title and Parkland to the 2006 PIAA Class 4A championship. She was 204-92 in 11 seasons at Catty and 174-75 in nine years at Parkland with the highlight being the 31-3 season of 2005-06.



That state title was her most special of all because her daughter Amy was a member of the state champion Trojans squad.

Heffner, who was a teacher at Catasauqua High, was first diagnosed with the cancer last January and took a leave of absence from the team before officially resigning in April.

She was inducted into the Parkland Hall of Fame last spring, and was previously inducted into the Dieruff, Catasauqua and Lehigh Valley Basketball halls of fame. Being a member of five different halls of fame gives a pretty good indication of her impact.

The Parkland program named a summer tournament in her honor.

(Patti, below far right, being inducted into Catty's Hall of Fame in 2007).

We've tried to inform you of how she was doing for most of the last year and there were some encouraging moments along the way, but sadly, this was one opponent that Patti couldn't beat.

She leaves behind a caring, wonderful husband in Paul, a former coach himself who was at her side every step of the way through this most difficult year.


And, she leaves behind Amy, who looks a great deal like Patti did at a similar age.



Amy is a junior and a member of the basketball team at Moravian after transferring from Millersville.

She showed remarkable grace and composure early last month when she represented her mother as the Dieruff state championship teams of 1975 and '76 were saluted at the Yasso/Rothrock Christmas City Classic banquet at Moravian College.

I don't think there's any doubt that Amy will carry on Patti's legacy as a person who always gave it her all and who represented the very best in what high school and college sports in the Lehigh Valley are all about.


Keep her, Paul and the rest of the family in your prayers in the very difficult days ahead. I am sure this is going to be an emotional time for all of the people who knew Patti at Dieruff, Catasasuqua, Parkland and throughout the Lehigh Valley basketball landscape.

Patti will be missed, but rest assured that to those of us deeply involved in high school sports and those who came to know and admire her, she will never be forgotten.