| | '''Peggy Sue Gerron Allison Rackham''' (June 15, 1940 – October 1, 2018) was as a [[high school]] senior the inspiration for the popular 1958 [[Buddy Holly]] song, "Peggy Sue." | | '''Peggy Sue Gerron Allison Rackham''' (June 15, 1940 – October 1, 2018) was as a [[high school]] senior the inspiration for the popular 1958 [[Buddy Holly]] song, "Peggy Sue." |
| − | A native of [[rural]] Olton in Lamb County in west [[Texas]], Gerron was a daughter of John Wellborn Gerron (1904-1963) and the former Lillie Ceclia Rieger (1910-2002).<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193692927/peggy-sue-rackham|title=Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 4, 2018}}</ref> She was reared in nearby [[Lubbock]]. At the time the song was recorded, Gerron was dating Jerry Allison, the drummer for Holly's band, The Crickets. The couple married after she graduated from Lubbock High School but later divorced. She attended Pasadena Junior College in Pasadena, [[California]], and became a dental assistant. From a second marriage to a man named Rackham, she had a son and a daughter. She helped Rackham to establish a successful plumbing business and became the first licensed woman plumber in California.<ref name=deathofpeggysue>{{cite web|url=http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20181001/peggy-sue-gerron-inspiration-for-buddy-holly-song-dies-in-lubbock|title=Peggy Sue Gerron, inspiration for Buddy Holly song, dies|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=October 1, 2018|accessdate=October 4, 2018}}</ref> | + | A native of [[rural]] Olton in Lamb County in west [[Texas]], Gerron was a daughter of John Wellborn Gerron (1904-1963) and the former Lillie Ceclia Rieger (1910-2002).<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193692927/peggy-sue-rackham|title=Peggy Sue Gerron Rackham|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=October 4, 2018}}</ref> By the time that she entered high school, the family relocated to nearby [[Lubbock]]. At the time the song was recorded, Gerron was dating Jerry Allison, the drummer for Holly's band, The Crickets. The couple married after she graduated from Lubbock High School but later divorced. She attended Pasadena Junior College in Pasadena, [[California]], and became a dental assistant. From a second marriage to a man named Rackham, she had a son and a daughter whose married name is Stathos. She helped Rackham to establish a successful plumbing business and became the first licensed woman plumber in California.<ref name=deathofpeggysue>{{cite web|url=http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20181001/peggy-sue-gerron-inspiration-for-buddy-holly-song-dies-in-lubbock|title=Peggy Sue Gerron, inspiration for Buddy Holly song, dies|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=October 1, 2018|accessdate=October 4, 2018}}</ref> |
| | In 1995, Gerron Rackham returned to Lubbock to care for her aging mother, who died seven years later. In the late 1990s, she was a frequent guest on [[radio]] station KDAV, which called itself "The Buddy Holly Station" though Holly never worked there. The station has since closed. She remained in Lubbock until her death there at the age of seventy-eight.<ref name=deathofpeggysue/> A memorial service will be held on October 13, 2018, at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers in Lubbock.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lubbockonline/obituary.aspx?n=peggy-gerron-rackham-peggy-sue&pid=190388840|title= Peggy Gerron "Peggy Sue" Rackham |publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=October 4, 2018}}</ref> | | In 1995, Gerron Rackham returned to Lubbock to care for her aging mother, who died seven years later. In the late 1990s, she was a frequent guest on [[radio]] station KDAV, which called itself "The Buddy Holly Station" though Holly never worked there. The station has since closed. She remained in Lubbock until her death there at the age of seventy-eight.<ref name=deathofpeggysue/> A memorial service will be held on October 13, 2018, at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers in Lubbock.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lubbockonline/obituary.aspx?n=peggy-gerron-rackham-peggy-sue&pid=190388840|title= Peggy Gerron "Peggy Sue" Rackham |publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|date=October 4, 2018}}</ref> |