Mary Lee Rabke, Ph.D.†
Inducted 1997
Hometown: Tivoli
Best Known for: Coaching – Tennis
In a time where women's sports were seldom a factor, Rabke was a pioneer who worked tirelessly to offer opportunities, using her academic training and organizational skills to build a successful venture.
Rabke was director of women's sports at McMurry College in Abilene in the early 1950s and eventually came to the Valley, where she taught at Pan American College and took over the foundling women's athletics program.
She organized the first Lady Broncs' tennis team in the mid-1950s and is still the all-time leader for coaching wins. Rabke was also active in creating clinics and was a long-time member of the American Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Educators, a national body charged with popularizing women's sports. Along with tennis, she coached volleyball and brought badminton and fencing to the program as well.
