MOULTRIE — In keeping with its mission of promoting historic preservation and encouraging active participation in educational and patriotic endeavors, the John Benning Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution honored Dr. Patricia Lee June and Willie Belle Irving-Partridge in a ceremony held March 14 at the Moultrie Federated Woman’s Clubhouse.
The event recognized June and Irving-Partridge for their numerous contributions to the country and community and submitted their names to the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution register of Women in American History. June and Brenda Partridge-Brown, representing her mother who passed in 1990, were each presented with a large, framed certificate of award and medal.
June, whose grandmother was also a member of the DAR, said it warmed her heart to receive such a recognition as this, and that she was “truly grateful to receive this honor – it is a great honor.”
According to the DAR proclamation, June dedicated her life to serving as an “advocate for those who live on the margins of society, domestically and abroad.” She graduated from Duke University and the Emory University School of Medicine, completed residencies in internal medicine and pediatrics in Memphis, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala. Additionally, she spent four years as the medical director at a rural clinic in Bangladesh with the Presbyterian Church.
June worked more than 35 years serving abused children and the unborn. For about a decade, she attended to most of the abused children in Colquitt County and several surrounding counties. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Child Advocacy Committee, as well as helping establish Hope House, a pregnancy crisis center, while still seeing children at the Hero House, a child abuse treatment center.
June continues to support the annual Bangladesh mission of First Presbyterian Church. She was also recognized by Colquitt Regional Medical Center Foundation in 2014 with the Walter Harrison Humanitarian Award for her “commitment to compassionate health care and community outreach.”
Brenda Partridge-Brown said her mother would be proud to be recognized by her hometown.
“I am over the moon and beyond grateful – I am just lost for words. This is such an honor and such a tribute to my mother, and I’m sure she’s rejoicing in heaven,” she said.
According to the DAR proclamation, Willie Belle Irvin, a native of Colquitt County, joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1944. She was assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only African-American WAC unit serving overseas during World War II. The unit sorted 17 million backlogged letters and packages, working in shifts around the clock to ensure servicemembers, other government personnel and Red Cross workers received letters from their loved ones back home. The battalion did not see combat but played a crucial role in boosting the morale of U.S. troops during the final months of war.
After her discharge in March 1946, Irvin used the GI Bill to take classes at the University of Florida and become a dietician. She and her husband, John Alvin Partridge raised six children in suburban Atlanta. Irvin-Partridge succumbed to cancer in 1990.
In 2022, the women of the 6888th Battalion were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal after Congress passed a bipartisan bill honoring them. The Congressional Gold Medal seeks to honor those who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement long after the achievement is accomplished.
Tyler Perry wrote and directed “Six Triple Eight,” a Netflix film about the unit’s heroics starring Kerry Washington, Susan Sarandon and Oprah Winfrey. The film is currently under production and due to be released later this year.
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution established a national register of Women in American History to recognize women who have made significant intellectual, educational, historical, social, religious, political, scientific or cultural contributions on the local, state or national level. June and Irvin-Partridge are among the 2024 nominees to this national register.