Joel Pritchard

Joel McFee Pritchard (May 5, 1925 – October 9, 1997) was an American businessman and politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Washington as a member of the Republican Party, and is the most recent Republican to have held that office as of 2024. Pritchard, known as the Father of Pickleball, invented the sport, along with two friends, in 1965. He was inducted into the Pickleball Hall of Fame in 2017.