[1][2] While in high school, she met and married Jesse Wayne "Buddy" Swayze, a mechanical engineer.
[4] All five of her children became dancers and actors,[2] and Patsy's training has been credited for leading her son Patrick to his starring role in Dirty Dancing in 1987.
[1][3][4] Patrick met his future wife, film director and actress Lisa Niemi, while they were Patsy's students at the Swayze School of Dance.
[1] Patsy Swayze transitioned to film by choreographing her first movie, Urban Cowboy, starring John Travolta and Debra Winger.
[1] She planned to retire from teaching and focus on film work, but instead opened a dance studio in a Simi Valley shopping center that operated for more than twenty years.