Pattison, former Sun and Utah newspapers sportswriter, dies at 56

Tuesday, May 15, 2001 | 11:04 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Dan Pattison, a former sportswriter for the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and Las Vegas Sun, died May 8 in Salt Lake City of a bone marrow disorder. He was 56.

Pattison, who began working for the News in 1967, covered the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association, winning the ABA Sports Writer of the Year award in 1971 and 1974.

He was nominated five times as Utah Sports Writer of the Year.

He worked full time at the News until 1976 and submitted stories periodically since then. His last Deseret News byline was April 8 for a story about former Utah Stars coach Bill Sharman. He regularly wrote the "where are they now" feature for the paper.

Pattison briefly left the news business in the mid-1970s when he came to Las Vegas to work at the old MGM Grand, now Bally's, serving as what he called "a money watcher."

Pattison's job was to observe and sign off on money taken from the cage for table and slot fills.

During that time, he was a stringer for the Sun, covering UNLV sporting events and high school football games. He was hired full time on Nov. 25, 1977, and worked for the Sun sports department until April 20, 1979, when he returned to Utah to work for the Salt Lake Tribune.

"He was a very conscientious worker who put a lot of effort into his stories," Ray Grass, a longtime friend and outdoor writer for the Deseret News said today. "Dan was very dedicated to everything he did."

Pattison also contributed to many national publications, including the Sporting News, Basketball Times, Basketball Weekly and USA Today.

He was chairman of the Bobby Reeves Memorial Golf Benefit, an annual event that raised nearly $100,000 for cancer research during the 1990s. He oversaw the 100 Years of Utah Sports Memories benefit in 1996, another cancer fund-raiser.

Three years ago Pattison founded the State of Utah Basketball Hall of Fame, which has raised more than $100,000 for victims of sudden trauma accidents.

Survivors include three children, a sister and a brother.