Pat Garrett

Patrick Henry Sickafus was born in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Bethel Township. Obituaries and profiles place his birth year around 1942; major published obituaries confirm he was 84 at his death on 28 September 2026 but do not publish an exact birth day. He was the son of Louis and Vira Sickafus. The music bug hit in tenth grade at Bethel High School when classmate Buddy Seigfried lip-synced Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" and the crowd erupted. Sickafus's mother taught him three guitar chords. He practiced intensely, studied with Hamburg teacher Ruth Lesher, and debuted with Ricky Nelson's "Lonesome Town" backed by music teacher Harold Kremser on acoustic bass. The student body stood on chairs and cheered. Local radio personality Jack Gounder soon featured him on WEEU and at area sock hops, locking in a lifelong chase for that stage response.

Garrett graduated from Bethel High School and earned a bachelor's degree in art from Kutztown University (then Kutztown State College). At Kutztown he formed dance bands with classmates, including a four-piece that packed campus gyms so tightly the floor bounced. After college he taught high school art for roughly six months to a year before concluding weekend music paid better than the classroom. He later joked that he retired from teaching after one year.

Garrett's working life braided music, retail, radio, and venue ownership. He ran the family Mobil gas station at Route 183 and I-78 near Strausstown while playing rock and R&B. A chance sheepskin display sold during a blizzard launched Sickafus Sheepskins, which grew from raw hides into coats, hats, slippers, and motorcycle gear sold nationwide. Country entertainer Shorty Long recruited him on bass; through Long's Ontelaunee Park shows he opened for and befriended stars including Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty, and began making sheepskin coats for them.

In Nashville he recorded on GoldDust and Polygram, charting "Sexy Ole Lady," "Jumpin' John," and other singles. After a label dispute stalled "Jumpin' John," he returned to Pennsylvania determined to bring Nashville home. The Pat Garrett Amphitheater opened in 1994 and, through 2005, presented Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Charlie Daniels, Loretta Lynn, Tanya Tucker, Billy Ray Cyrus, and others, usually with the Pat Garrett Band opening. The venue later reopened under Flagship Music Productions. His song "Bad Woman" was covered by the Arctic Monkeys. He also owned WWSM-AM 1510 (classic country) and previously WTPA-FM, sold in 2017.

Politically charged novelty songs became a late-career signature. "Moose Shootin' Mama" put him on the Sarah Palin campaign trail. "I'm Gonna Stand," written with Suzy Dalton during the NFL anthem protests, went viral from a Facebook phone video and led to Fox News appearances. He performed for Palin rallies and kept releasing what he branded country-versial tunes.

Garrett married Suzy Dalton, a singer, co-writer, and bass player who helped run the amphitheater and performed in his band for decades. Bean Funeral Homes noted a marriage of 30 years; friends recalled he once stopped a show, dropped to one knee, and proposed onstage. He had two sons, Jeff and Dan, who helped build the amphitheater. A dinner with Dan at The Bridge Inn in Oley Township led the family to buy that restaurant, where the band later performed often. Garrett loved the house he had helped build more than fifty years earlier and kept a simple home life alongside seven-day weeks at the sheepskin shop. He adopted the stage name Pat Garrett from the Wild West lawman, swapping the distinctly Pennsylvania surname Sickafus for marquees while keeping Sickafus on the sheepskin brand and radio filings.

Garrett was openly conservative in his novelty catalog. He wrote "Moose Shootin' Mama" after seeing images of Sarah Palin with a moose, then licensed the song to her campaign and opened rallies for John McCain and Palin in 2008. "I'm Gonna Stand" framed his response to NFL players kneeling during the national anthem as a personal pledge to stand with hand over heart. He also recorded "The Tea Party Song" for Berks County Patriots, "I'm Voting for Donald for President," "Bailout," "The Saddam Stomp," and "The Monica Lewinsky Polka," which he debuted after asking a Willie Nelson amphitheater crowd to cheer or boo the title. He described these as country-versial songs and took them to Fox News and talk radio without apology for political incorrectness.

In Berks County, Garrett left a hillside amphitheater that still books summer shows, a sheepskin landmark visible from I-78, and a deep catalog of regional hits and novelty songs. Nationally he is remembered for an early nudge that helped send Taylor Swift's family to Nashville, for coats worn on Yellowstone, and for viral patriotic singles. Friend and journalist Dave Kline called him "the last of a generation" and "a genuine hustler" in the best sense: not only a singer-songwriter but an entertainer who built his own stage when the industry stalled him. Flagship Music Productions pledged to keep honoring his venue legacy after his death.

Garrett's public record emphasizes chart placements and popular recognition more than major industry trophies. Contemporary profiles credit him with multiple Billboard country chart entries in the early 1980s, including regional No. 1 reports for "Sexy Ole Lady" in markets such as Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, and Detroit, and national traction for "Jumpin' John" before a label dispute. Local media repeatedly cast him as one of Berks County's most famous entertainers. Formal national award wins are not documented in the major obituaries consulted for this profile.

Garrett appeared on Fox & Friends and other cable outlets promoting "I'm Gonna Stand." The Philadelphia Inquirer profiled him in 2023 as Pennsylvania's "sheepskin king," linking Taylor Swift, Yellowstone, and Sarah Palin in one career. Reading Eagle's Dave Kline devoted Mountain Folklore columns to his life story. Pennsylvania Magazine featured him as a "Blue Mountain Renaissance Man." His song "Bad Woman" reached a new audience when the Arctic Monkeys recorded it. He wrote "Just Taylor" about Swift's early Berks County days and kept photos of her karaoke years in the shop. Music videos and ads for Sickafus Sheepskins circulated on his YouTube channels.

Patrick H. Sickafus died peacefully on Monday, 28 September 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in Upper Tulpehocken Township, Pennsylvania, at age 84, surrounded by family, according to Bean Funeral Homes. A cause of death was not made public; local television reported that a cause had not been determined. Visitation was scheduled for 5 October 2026 at Bean Funeral Home in Shillington, with a funeral service on 6 October 2026 officiated by Father John Gibbons and interment at Epler's Church Cemetery. The Pat Garrett Amphitheater and Flagship Music Productions posted a public tribute thanking him for sharing the venue and pledging to honor his legacy.