When you think of a Texas treasurer who is a person, you must think of Babe Didrikson from Beaumont, Texas.
Her father Ole Nicolai Didriksen was born in Kristiansand kommune, Vest-Agder fylke, Norway. Her mother Hanna Marie Olsdatter Didriksen was born Eide kommune, Møre og Romsdal fylke, Norway.
Their daughter Mildred Ella Didrikson was born in Port Auther Texas in 1911.
Called Babe She moved from Port Arthur, Texas, to Beaumont, Texas, when she was three years old.
Athletic from the get-go, she loved to swing, jump, run and was overall considered a tomboy. Living A physical and adventurous life in the country. When Babe was 14 years old, she joined the football team and consequently became the captain. When she was a freshman in high school, she wanted to join the basketball team. On the court, she handled the ball so deftly that She was playing on the varsity team in no time and was such a good sports person that she got the attention of MJ Mccombs of Dallas. (McCombs school of Business at UT Austin)
MJ Mccombs was the head of an insurance company.
Spotting her talent right away, he offered the 15 year old girl a job in a place on the company basketball team. Mccombs began enrolling her in every kind of competition he could, just to see how far she could go. In addition to softball, basketball, she was heavily involved in diving, swimming and speedboat racing. Mccombs took Babe to Chicago for the AAU track and field meet. Most of the Girls competing were parts of 12 to 15 member teams. She got the nickname The One Girl Team from Dallas.
In one competition, she entered the discus throw, an event in which she had no experience As well as the javelin throw, the broad jump, the high jump hurdles and other events, not only did she qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games in Los Angeles but also set world records for the 80 meter hurdles and the javelin throw.
While training in California for the US Olympics of 1932. Babe decided to join the two new events that were added for the women’s teams, the javelin throw and the 80m hurdles. She won and set records for both of them.
At some point, she decided to give up all of these games and fencing and tennis and billiards and boxing, to concentrate on just golf.
Babe practiced diligently and in 1934 felt that she was ready to try her skill against others and entered the Fort Worth tournament. She shot a 77 and won a medal. This encouraged her to enter the Texas State Women’s golf tournament. Again, she won. All athletics stopped during World War Two, but then came back in 1946. The US Women’s amateur tournament. Was her first national. Championship. After which she went on to become the British women’s amateur golf tournament champion. Her achievements are. Long and varied and worth a Wikipedia click.
She met and married the love of her life George. Zaharias in 1938.
In 1953, she began battling colon cancer. She underwent surgery, including a colostomy, and bravely battled the disease while continuing to compete in golf. Despite the recurrence of cancer, she continued to play, even winning her final major championship, the U.S. Women’s Open, in 1954. She ultimately succumbed to cancer in 1956 at the age of 45.
National Women’s History Museum
