June 15 brings mixed emotions to any seasoned Mets fan who knows that, once upon a time, this served as the trade deadline. For Pat Zachry, it brings emotions of his own. Not about the enormity of trying to justify being traded for Tom Seaver, but rather about his beloved wife Sharron …
After his career ended with the Phillies in 1985, Zachry and his family returned to Waco, Texas, where he had grown up. On November 21, 2016, Zachry and Sharron were driving back home from Dallas on Interstate-35.
Zachry told the Post:
“We were 50 or 60 miles north of Waco. I was looking at her. She was reading a book as the light was going down on her window. She had her seatbelt on her waist, but the strap was not on her shoulder … I said, ‘Honey will you please put that strap over your shoulder?’ She said, ‘I’ve only got two more pages (and then I’ll do it).’ I blacked out. I don’t remember anything other than waking up on my side of the door and the emergency guy was trying to pull it open.”
Sharron, who had become a school principal, died as their pickup truck ran off the roadway and rolled over. Only in the aftermath did Zachry learn that he had suffered an epileptic seizure, he said. He didn’t even know he had epilepsy.
