Pate Collection

Adlai McMillan "A.M.” or "Aggie" Pate Jr. was born in Dallas and he went to Peacock Military Academy in San Antonio and graduated from Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth. After graduation he went to work at the company his father founded - Panther Oil and Grease Manufacturing. While a student at TCU in 1940, he continued working at the company and was named Sales Manager of the Lubricants. Pate enlisted in the Army in 1942 and was discharged in 1944 as a sergeant. When he returned to Fort Worth, he was elected secretary of the company and in 1965 he became the President. Pate became an active citizen in the Fort Worth community and participated in many civic activities. He established the Pate Museum of Transportation in 1969, spanning over 100 years of automotive history, the range of cars featured a variety of marques and eras such as Packards and Cadillacs – Aggie’s favorites. Although Pate never completed his degree, he actively supported higher education and served as a trustee at Austin College and Texas Christian University. He even received an honorary “Doctor of Laws” degree from TCU because of his close work with civic leaders and educators. Pate served on the board of YMCA, was active in Girls’ Service League, the Fort Worth Zoological Foundation, and the Fort Worth Children’s Museum – now the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. With his wife Joyce, Pate initially donated 1,500 books on American Presidents to TCU on February 16th, 1971. Over time he made multiple donations of records, memorabilia, magazines, newspapers, and recordings pertaining to American Presidents and Vice-Presidents. Aggie Pate died in October of 1988 at the age of 67.