Donors and Difference-Makers

All in the family

 

Life, love and the Huskies span three generations for the Symons clan

With his UW business degree fresh in hand in 1953, Tom Symons paid $18 for two football season tickets and $1 a game for two basketball season tickets. He’s never missed a season opener since. After more than six decades and countless rewarding relationships, the Huskies are almost as much a part of the Symons family as all the kids and grandkids.

Tom met an equally passionate fan on the UW campus and married Margaret in 1963. Throughout their lives — with four kids, two of them Washington graduates but all of them big-time UW fans, along with 14 grandchildren — they’ve made Husky Athletics a real family affair.

Thumbing through years of old Christmas photo-cards, Margaret smiles at pictures of Crary, Chandler, Wade and Maggie in front of Hec Ed Pavilion or a group of young grandkids with the dog statue at Husky Stadium. A recent photo shows the entire 24-member Symons clan, who all attend a Husky basketball game together during the holidays.

When Chandler was diagnosed with diabetes as a child, understandably occupying much of his parents’ attention, Crary craved some special time of his own. He wrote a letter to then-UW basketball coach Marv Harshman asking if he could be a ball boy. Marv quickly wrote back and agreed. The Symonses and Harshmans became such close friends that Margaret delivered the eulogy at Marv’s funeral in 2013.

With basketball seats at mid-court and on the 50-yard line in Husky Stadium, Tom and Margaret have made dozens of friends, taken photos with every head coach since the ’60s and counted their blessings to be able to support such fine young student-athletes. Their teenage granddaughter, Genevieve, now dreams of playing Husky basketball.

“We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs over the years,” Tom says. “Winning or losing, these kids will grow into better people because they participated. It’s good discipline for them.”

The couple realizes that the donations connected to their season ticket purchases fund something far greater than the thrills they experience at the games.

“Husky sports lead to a better society,” Margaret states. “Every year, it’s a contribution you’re glad to make because you know that it’s an investment that will pay off. It’s a legacy that doesn’t stop with the kids while they’re playing here but will live on when they leave.”

“You’re making a difference in lives,” Tom adds, “and that feels good.”

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