Bio

Carlyn Faye (Patton) Summers

Perkinston Agricultural High School & Junior College (1952-1956) / Basketball
Saucier, Mississippi

All Carlyn Patton Summers wanted to do was play basketball and go to school. In the mid-1950s, that’s exactly what she did.

“I grew up at Saucier,” Summers said. “The year I started high school, they changed the school system, so my friends and I piled into the back of a pick-up truck and road to Perk every day. We wanted to be there that badly.”

One of several Patton family members to attend what was then Perkinston Agricultural High School, Summers was a standout forward for the Puppettes.

“I came from a basketball family,” she said. “My mom played, my dad played, my sister played, and I played.” Her younger sister camera, Barbara Patton Ladner, was a 2006 Gulf Coast Athletic Hall of Fame inductee.

“Being athletic came natural for Carlyn Faye,” Ladner said. “Her beautiful, long hook shot and quick pivot shots helped her score a lot of points.”

Thirty-four points a game, as a matter of fact. During her career, many of Summers’ scoring totals were gaudy enough to make NBA stars like Kobe Bryant jealous. In one contest played in her junior year at Bay St. Louis, Summers ripped the nets for an incredible 58 points. To no one’s surprise, she was voted Most Outstanding Girl Athlete at Perk AHS three years in a row. Only an occasional illness and her father could slow her down on the court. “It was an important time in my life,” Summer said. “I remember getting sick right before a tournament game. My dad wouldn’t let me play. I was so upset!”

After graduating, Summers’ basketball career came to an abrupt halt, as a sport of women’s basketball was eliminated at Perk at the junior-college level.

“I had an offer to play for a professional team called the Arkansas Redheads,” Summers said. “But my dad wouldn’t let me go pro. At that time, I didn’t know a lot about it. In hindsight, things work out for the better.”

Summers then went to Perkinston Junior College for one year. From there, her focus was on Fred Summers, a schoolmate and a pastor who would become her husband of more than 50 years. During that time, she helped Fred with his ministry.

“When we started, Fred and I had responsibility for five churches at the same time,” she said.

“Carlyn Faye served on the Louisiana Missionary Council and was Missionary president at her local church,” said Ladner. “She also served as a summer camp youth director for 15 years.”

While basketball may be here claim to fame at Perk, Summers is also known as a very successful businesswoman. A 28-year employee of Provine School Pictures based in Alexandria, La., 10 of those as the company’s vice president, Summers has earned numerous accolades and recognition for her work including the Central Louisiana Businesswoman of theYyear Award.

But this fall at homecoming, it’s all about her tremendous high school basketball career at Perk.

“When Dr. Lott called in for me of the award, my first thought was, ‘Why would he be calling me?’” Summers said. “I consider being selected for the Gulf Coast Athletic Hall of Fame a deep honor.”