About Us

Patricia and Robert Dineen

1961 U.S. ice dancing bronze medalists

Patricia Barbara Major Dineen, 25, and Robert Francis Dineen, 25, were born just days apart in different boroughs of New York City but eventually came together to form a partnership both on and off the ice. Bob Dineen was the son of Judge Benedict and Mary Dineen and had two brothers, Joseph and Benedict Jr. Pat Major was the daughter of Edward and Ann Major and had one brother, Edward. Major and Dineen began skating as teenagers in the New York City metropolitan-area rinks, including the Brooklyn Ice Palace, Central Park's Wollman Rink and Iceland at Madison Square Garden. In 1956, they formed an ice dancing partnership and moved to Los Angeles for a year, training with coach Jean Westwood. Returning to New York, they married in 1958 and continued to compete in junior dance, winning the bronze medal at the 1959 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the silver in 1960. The Dineens trained for the 1960-61 competitive season even though Pat gave birth to their son, Robert Dineen, Jr., in the summer of 1960. Working with coaches Sonya Klopfer Dunfield and Ron Ludington, they placed third in senior dance at the 1961 U.S. Championships and earned a berth on the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team. When they flew to Prague, they left their 9-month-old son in the care of Bob's brother, Ben.

Bio written by Patricia Shelley Bushman, author of Indelible Tracings.