THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 15, 1995 TAG: 9507150480
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Area basketball lost a pioneer this week when long-time official Leroy ``Mutt'' Pasco died.
Pasco, 70, was the first official from South Hampton Roads to work Division I games and a major influence on a generation, said Dick Bowie, local high school commissioner.
``People such as myself, Hank Armstrong and others owe our career to Mutt,'' Bowie said. ``He was the guy that got us into college basketball.''
Bowie and Armstrong, an NBA official from Virginia Beach, served as pallbearers at Pasco's funeral.
``Mutt was a guy you really looked up to when you were an official, the kind you wanted to model your career after,'' Armstrong said. ``He was one of the first big-time officials from our area. You'd turn on the TV and see him working at West Virginia or North Carolina and a couple of days later you'd see him working a high school game.''
Pasco was a native of Evansville, Ind. and played college basketball at Texas Christian. He was an All-Navy player for several years and settled in Norfolk after his discharge.
He began officiating high school games in 1954 and worked the NCAA tournament in 1969 and 1971.
``Mutt had incredible guts and incredible integrity,'' Bowie said. ``I saw him (call a technical foul on) Lefty Driesell at Maryland, and they were pretty good friends.''
Pasco suffered from chronic knee pain his entire career and had to apply heat treatments before each game.
``I used to marvel that anybody could do that,'' Bowie said.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB