Frances Patridge: Union College’s Ambassador Extraordinaire

Few individuals have an impact on their place of work like Frances Patridge did on Union College. All you had to say was Miss Pat, and immediately everyone, not just at Union, but in all of Barbourville knew of whom you were speaking. This statuesque woman could build you up or bring you to your knees depending on the situation at hand and as a student, how you had chosen to react in the given situation.

The Museum Corner would like to salute Miss Pat for her 50 years of service to Union and Barbourville. She wasn’t a native by birth, but a lifelong resident by choice.

Frances Lavelle Patridge was born July 24, 1922, the daughter of Jesse James and Manila Patridge of Fordyce, Arkansas. She attended Elaine High School and received her bachelor’s degree with a teaching certification from the University of Arkansas. She then attended George Peabody College in Nashville to earn her master’s degree. She completed additional graduate work at the University of California at Los Angeles and Indiana University.

She moved to Barbourville in 1947 to become an instructor of physical education at Union. She was promoted to assistant professor in 1949 and associate professor in 1955. In her fifty years of service to Union, Miss Pat was active in the direction of many college programs including basketball, track, class sponsor, the athletic board, homecoming, and she served on virtually every faculty committee at Union during her tenure.

In 1958, WCTT radio station in Corbin began a weekly broadcast, 15 minutes in duration, to promote physical activity and health education programs offered at the college for women. Miss Pat was the chair of the broadcast, choosing its content and being the voice of the Bulldogs.

In 1962 after a little more than a decade at Union, Miss Pat was named the Director of Student Activities. In this role, she was responsible for the social functions on campus.

Along with her advisory committee, she planned and promoted all extracurricular activities, as well as all social activities in addition to maintaining her teaching position in the Health and Physical Education department.

Miss Pat was honored with the Distinguished Service Award at the Kentucky Education Association’s annual meeting in April of 1964. The award was given for her constructive leadership and many contributions in the field of physical education and health. She served for several years as Secretary and Treasurer of Kentucky’s State Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

She was promoted to Dean of Students and in 1983 was named the Vice President of Student Affairs. Her responsibilities included supervising the offices of dean of students, director of admissions, financial aid, dormitory councils and athletics.

Miss Pat was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the college for her countless contributions and service to the students and the college.

After her retirement, the student center was named in her honor, the Frances Patridge Student Center.

In 1986, the Knox County Chamber of Commerce awarded Miss Pat with the Oldsmobile Athena Award for being named the Chamber’s Woman of the Year at their June 25 luncheon held at Union College. The Oldsmobile Division of General Motors sponsored the program nationwide with local chambers selecting their respective recipients. Chamber member, Walter C. Hopper, Jr. presented her with a bouquet of flowers and Union president, Dr. Jack Phillips in his congratulatory speech said, “Miss Pat came here from Arkansas in 1947 and found a home with us and she has never left.”

Miss Pat and her former student, turned colleague, Ed Black, were viewed as Union’s ambassadors for many years. No on-campus event was complete without a visit with Miss Pat or Ed as both attended nearly every ballgame, every Homecoming, every concert, every play, and every graduation that the college had for a half century.

Barbourville civic and social activities filled Miss Pat’s free time as she was an active participant in the Barbourville Younger Woman’s Study Club, the American Association of University Women, the Daniel Boone Festival Committee, the Bridge Club as well as being an active member of Union’s Alumni Committee.

Miss Pat passed away on March 26, 1998, after a valiant fight against cancer. She was 75 years old.

After a memorial service at Union’s Conway Boatman Chapel, she was interred with family in the Maple Hill Cemetery in Helena, Arkansas.

Between 1947 and 1998, no other individual had more of an impact on student life at Union College than our forever friend and confidant, Miss Pat. Hundreds of Union students were given respite by Miss Pat’s loving personality and her eagerness for students to succeed. She knew when students were successful, Union would be as well.