Cynthia Schwartz
Pancho Epstein was one of the founders and a dear member of the PebbleCreek Pickleball Club. In April, the club celebrated his life by hosting the 2020-21 Pancho Epstein PebbleCreek Pickleball Club Championship. Pancho is remembered for his enduring, endearing, irreverent, comical, positive, and always entertaining contributions to pickleball in PebbleCreek.
Bob Chester, PebbleCreek Pickleball Club past president, commented, “I cannot do justice to his entire biography but would like to make sure all our members know the impact Pancho and Helen made to our club. Pancho had a way with words, to say the least. He had a newspaper background and for many years he wrote our Dr. Dink-It Newsletters that were a monthly fixture for years. Scott Johnson recalled a memory. “My first mentor was Pancho. Sue and I had just started to play and Pancho adopted me. My initial mentoring session consisted of Pancho motivating me to get up to the kitchen line. His constant refrain was ‘get your *** up to the line.’ Along with mentoring me he was a Novice Trainer, the Club Scribe, and Dr. Dink-It. It was through his tutelage, guidance, cajoling that I became active in volunteering for club activities. Our relationship has spanned 10 years and I will be forever grateful for his friendship.”
Pat Murphy, PebbleCreek Pickleball Club past president, said, “In an article that was published in the Pickleball Magazine January 2017, it was discovered Pancho was influential in pickleball before the original eight courts were built. Our first article was written for the PebbleCreek Post back in 2007 by Pancho Epstein. We all thank and owe Pancho a great deal for giving his time and effort.”
The dearest memories of Pancho were told by his wife, Helen Hurley. She commented, “It was wonderful how Pancho accepted everyone and loved working with new players. His outlook was simple: nobody is gonna learn something unless you are having fun, especially in an adult community. He told the novice players to get your foot in and get your foot out of the kitchen. He said that people shouldn’t be so serious about the game, but they should always try and remember the rules. Pancho was a well-respected man and he made sure that people had fun.”
The PebbleCreek Pickleball Club thanks Pancho and his wife, Helen, for all that they have done for the sport and our club. Paddles up! Dink responsibly! Cheers, Pancho aka Dr. Dink-it!