Former Printing Industry and US Golf Association Leader Hal 'Win' Padgett Jr. Passes at Age 78

Hal Winfield "Win" Padgett Jr.
1945 - 2024

Hal Winfield "Win" Padgett Jr. died on March 6, 2024, at age 78, after a long battle with a rare disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), according to an obituary published in the Dallas Morning News. After graduating from Princeton University in 1968, followed by a tour of duty aboard Navy destroyers during the Vietnam War, he joined the family printing business, Dallas, Texas-based Padgett Printing.

Founded in 1903, Padgett Printing was a printing industry leader for many years. Win excelled there upon his return after the war, and eventually served in positions within Printing Industries of America (PIA) on both the regional and national levels. He was president of Printing Industries Association of Texas in 1992-1993, and served as vice chairman, Government Affairs, for PIA on the national stage from 1994 to 2000. Win also enjoyed a lifetime of civic service within several organizations outside the printing industry.

Sadly, commercial, packaging, and direct mail specialist Padgett Printing closed in August 2011 after a 108-year-run. It had been managed by David Torok — a 2007 Printing Impressions Printing Industry Hall of Fame inductee — who served as president and CEO of Padgett Printing for more than three decades. In announcing the 2011 closure, Torok cited a number of factors that prompted Padgett Printing — which ranked 259th on the 2010 Printing Impressions 400 list with sales of $16.9 million — to shutter its doors.

Along with the pain felt by the global recession and a reduction in direct mail work, Torok said the company had never quite recovered from a more than $3.5 million embezzlement by its former controller six years prior. A December 2010 sales contest also backfired via unprofitable work, and inclement weather in the Dallas area in February 2011 led to a severe lack of revenue for that month.

"We got into a liquidity crisis because we couldn't get revenue to meet operating costs," said Torok, at the time. "It's a matter of reduced sales and reduced margins. It's really sad," he noted about the closure of the venerable printing company.

Prior to its decline, Padgett Printing was on the cutting edge when it came to many marketing and value-added services, including being an early adopter of digital printing capabilities, website development and integration, mailing services, and kitting and fulfillment.

Win Padgett Was Well-Known in the Golf World

Despite the ultimate demise of Padgett Printing, Win Padgett had a remarkable career within the United States Golf Association (USGA). His prowess at the game first showed with the success he had in college playing for the Princeton Tigers golf team. Win would go on to serve as a PGA committee man for more than three decades. Win was a keen student of the Rules of Golf, having attended at least 25 Rules School sessions. According to his obituary, he served as Rules of Golf official at The Masters and other important golf tournaments around the country.

Win was a Texas Golf Association (TGA) board member and served as a member of the USGA's Executive Committee, holding the treasurer's office in 2002, his obituary noted. He was also a long-time member and chair of the USGA's Museum & Archives Committee.

In addition, Win collected and competed in hickory golf, participating in the establishment of The Society of Hickory Golfers, The Hickory Grail, and the National Hickory Championship.

Among the many awards Win Padgett received during his long affiliation with the game of golf, the TGA's Bob Wells Award, the USGA's Ike Grainger Award, and the Hickory Grail's Ralph Livingston III Award were the ones he cherished the most.

In celebration of his 70th birthday, his wife Nancy (who he first met when they were both pursuing private pilot licenses), and his daughter Lauren, secretly collected more than 100 letters from his wide array of friends and admirers, which were copied and bound into a leather book, which they appropriately called "The Nicest Man."

A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held at Christ the King Catholic Church, 8017 Preston Rd. in Dallas, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. A reception will follow at Brook Hollow Golf Club.

His obituary notes that the USGA has established the H. Winfield Padgett Jr. Fund, with USGA matching dollars, to honor and celebrate Win's life, character, and passion for golf history. Donations honoring Win Padgett may be sent to the USGA Foundation, 77 Liberty Corner Rd., Liberty Corner, NJ 07938; or made online at https://foundation.usga.org/page/63871/donate/1.

The Padgett family is also establishing the Win Padgett Tribute Fund, to support research into PSP and other prime-of-life brain diseases at www.curepsp.org.