LUBBOCK, Texas — Pat Henderson served as the Lubbock Cooper ISD Superintendent for almost two decades. He passed away on his 73rd birthday on July 25th of 2026. I was honored to have interviewed him and got to know him some as a reporter twenty years ago. I sat down with his best friend and former co-worker, Thom Vines, to talk about his storied career and the legacy he is leaving behind.
Thom Vines and Pat Henderson were friends for 36 years. They met during their time teaching at Meadow ISD. Then Thom served as assistant superintendent alongside Pat during his time at Lubbock Cooper ISD.
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Thom described Pat as a leader, saying, “leadership matters, and more than anybody else, he changed the district, and he did it by he knew what he wanted and he had the backbone to stick to it. And he led and he got people and had that infectious enthusiasm and you didn’t doubt.”
Knowing each other for so long, they could finish each others sentences, but there’s one time Thom remembers well. “I mean, we were just kind of crazy, you know, moronic. We would watch Animal House together and we could probably do a whole rendition of Blazing Saddles by ourselves.”…