Joel McFee Pritchard (May 5, 1925 – October 9, 1997) was an American businessman and politician who served in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and as the 14th

Lieutenant Governor of Washington The lieutenant governor of Washington is an elected office in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The incumbent is Denny Heck, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who began his term in January 2021. The lieutenant governor s ...

as a member of the Republican party. Pritchard also invented the game of

pickleball Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport where two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a net using solid-faced paddles. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and ...

, along with two friends, in 1965.

Political career

Pritchard was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in 1956 that renominated

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

for the presidency. He was elected to the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

representing Washington's thirty-sixth district in 1958, where he served from 1959 to 1967, being reelected in 1960, 1962 and 1964. In the state house, he worked closely with future

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Daniel J. Evans Daniel Jackson Evans (born October 16, 1925) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, 16th governor of Washington from 1965 to 1977, and as United States Senator, United States senator representing Washington S ...

and

Slade Gorton Thomas Slade Gorton III (January 8, 1928 – August 19, 2020) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Washington from 1981 to 1987 and again from 1989 until 2001. A member of the Republican Party, he hel ...

. In 1966, he was elected to the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...

, where he served a single term from 1967 to 1971. In 1970 Pritchard, a member of Washington Citizens for Abortion Reform (WCAR), introduced a bill allowing abortions in the first four months of pregnancy; it was approved and went to the voters as Referendum 20. The measure was approved statewide by voters in November 1970, making Washington the first state to in which abortion was legalized by a popular vote. In 1970, Pritchard ran for the

to represent Washington's first district, challenging nine-term incumbent Thomas Pelly in the Republican primary. Pelly was renominated, but by a smaller margin than anyone expected. In 1972, Pelly retired and Pritchard ran for the

again, this time successfully, defeating opponents John Hempleman and Craig Honts in a closely contested election. He was easily reelected in 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1982, serving from 1973 to 1985. He chose not to run for reelection in 1984. In 1988, he made a successful run for

, becoming president of the Washington Senate. He was reelected in 1992, serving from 1989 to 1997.

Personal life

Pritchard was the second son of Frank and Jean (McFee) Pritchard. He was born on May 5, 1925 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington where he attend public schools, and graduated from Queen Anne High School in June 1944. At the rank of

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1944 to 1946. After leaving the service, he attended

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an ...

in Ohio from 1946 to 1947. He worked for the Griffin Envelope Company in Seattle from 1948 to 1971 where he became president of the company. In 1965, while serving in the Washington State Senate, Pritchard, along with friends Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, invented the game of

at his summer home on

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

, Washington. After the end of his second term as Lieutenant Governor, Pritchard went into retirement and became a board member of TVW, the

state of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

's public affairs network. He died on October 9, 1997, in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. European ...

, of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

Electoral history

*1992 General Election for Lieutenant Governor of Washington **Joel Pritchard ( R) (inc.), 1,072,968 **

Richard Kelley Richard Kelley (24 July 1904 – April 1984) was a British trade unionist and left-wing Labour Party politician from the coal mining area of Doncaster. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Don Valley from 1959 to 1979. Career Kelle ...

( D), 862,063 ** Absolutely Nobody ( IC), 148,021 ** Tom Isenberg ( L), 75,933 *1988 General Election for Lieutenant Governor of Washington **Joel Pritchard (R), 960,655 ** George Fleming (D), 839,593 *1982 General Election for U.S. House of Representatives **Joel Pritchard (R) (inc.), 123,956 ** Brian Long (D), 59,444 *1980 General Election for U.S. House of Representatives **Joel Pritchard (R) (inc.), 180,475 **Robin Drake (D), 41,830 *1978 General Election for U.S. House of Representatives **Joel Pritchard (R) (inc.), 99,942 ** Janice Niemi (D), 52,706 *1976 General Election for U.S. House of Representatives **Joel Pritchard (R) (inc.), 161,354 ** Dave Wood (D), 58,006 *1974 General Election for U.S. House of Representatives **Joel Pritchard (R) (inc.), 108,391 ** Will Knedlik (D), 44,655 *1972 General Election for U.S. House of Representatives **Joel Pritchard (R), 107,581 ** John Hempleman (D), 104,959 ** Craig Honts ( SW), 1,401

References

External links

Joel M. Pritchard: An Oral History
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Joel M. 1925 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American politicians American people of Welsh descent Creators of sports Lieutenant Governors of Washington (state) Marietta College alumni Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Military personnel from Seattle Politicians from Seattle Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) United States Army soldiers Republican Party Washington (state) state senators Pickleball Sports inventors and innovators