Sweet Dreams of Patsy Cline, Winchester, VA.

We read in the Virginia state tourism guide that Patsy Cline's hometown was Winchester, VA and that her childhood home opened to visitors in 2011.  There was also an ad for a major exhibit titled “Becoming Patsy Cline” in the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, also in Winchester.  That exhibit was ending a nine month run on July 6^th, just a couple days away, so we had to hustle!  Both Maryke and Lin are very fond of Patsy's songs so this was an opportunity to get to know more about her life.

In case, you're not familiar with Patsy Cline or haven't thought about her in a while, here's a synopsis of her short life. Patsy Cline was born in 1932 as Virginia “Ginny” Patterson Hensley.  Her father, Sam, a blacksmith and metalworker, moved the family 19 times in 16 years during Patsy's younger years, while he was seeking jobs.  They came back to Winchester in 1940. He abandoned the family in 1947, leaving her mother Hilda, who worked as a seamstress, to support Patsy, her younger brother Samuel and her younger sister Sylvia.   Patsy lived in an small old 1840s house at 608 South Kent Street in Winchester from age 16-21 with her mother, Hilda Patterson Hensley and her siblings.  Patsy taught herself to play the piano, although she never learned to read sheet music! 

Patsy dropped out of high school after her 16^th birthday to support the family working in a poultry plant, bus station, soda fountain and waitressing. She entered talent contests and began to sing on a local radio station.  Hilda sewed fringed Western cowgirl outfits, made from Patsy's hand drawn designs, for her performances at local clubs.  Patsy married Gerald Cline in 1953 but divorced in July 1957 because of her desire to continue performing and the conflict with his wish that she be a fulltime housewife.  She was married again in September 1957 to Charlie Dick, a linotype operator for the Winchester Star newspaper, and this marriage was to last the rest of her life and produce two children, Julie and Randy.

In 1955, Patsy got her first recording contract with a subsidiary of Decca Records. She was soon discovered by the Grand Ole Opry and began performing there.  On July 1, 1955 Patsy made her television debut on ABC's Grand Ole Opry show and Ozark Jubilee later.  In late 1955 Patsy recorded “Walkin' After Midnight.”  Her big break came on January 2, 1957, when Patsy appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout television program in New York City, introduced by her mother, Hilda, her biggest fan!  Godfrey insisted that she wear a cocktail dress rather than her usual cowgirl outfit.  She won the talent contest and then recorded “Walkin'”as a successful single record.  She also appeared several times on Godfrey's radio program.  “Walkin'” became #2 on the country music charts and #16 on the pop charts making Pat the first country crossover artist!

Patsy and Charlie moved to Nashville after Julie's birth in 1958.  Patsy signed with Decca Records-Nashville in 1960 with her first release “I Fall to Pieces” in 1961.  It became #1 in country and #12 on pop charts.  She became a regular cast member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1960, a longtime goal, and eventually became one of its biggest stars.  Patsy was generous with her time with other hopeful women singers and helped several get a start—Loretta Lynn, Dottie West, Brenda Lee and Barbara Mandrell.

Patsy was in a bad car accident in June 1961 but six weeks later was performing again!  Patsy's recording of Willie Nelson's song “Crazy” in 1961 rocketed to the Top 10 on both country and pop charts!  Success brought her tours and the demand for more recordings.  Patsy was the first country singer to perform at New York's Carnegie Hall, then the Hollywood Bowl with Johnny Cash and her own show in Las Vegas!  She has a star on Hollywood Boulevard!  She switched to evening gowns and cocktail dresses for her later performances to reflect her success with pop music fans.  In early 1962, her new album was “She's Got You.”

On March 3, 1963 Patsy, George Jones, Billie Walker, Dottie West and others performed 3 shows at a benefit concert in Kansas City, Kansas.  The next day the airport was fogged in but on March 5, Patsy and 3 other country performers took off in her manager's small plane in windy and poor weather.  They crashed only 90 miles from Nashville killing everyone aboard instantly. 

Patsy was gone, at age 30, much too early.  Thousands attended her memorial service in Winchester.  She was buried at Shenandoah Memorial Park in her hometown of Winchester, VA.  Since her death, Patsy's fame has only increased!  Patsy's recorded hits have been re-released in several compilations.  She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville in 1973 as the first female solo country artist to be so honored.  In 1985 the movie “Sweet Dreams” about Patsy's life starring Jessica Lange was released to critical acclaim.  In 1992 Patsy Cline was featured on a U.S. Postage stamp, a great honor!  Several tribute shows have traveled the country re-populizing Patsy's songs.  Actually, Patsy is even more popular now than she was in the early '60s!

When we arrived in Winchester on July 6, we went first to their very friendly Visitor Center, where we received lots of information and directions to Patsy Cline sites, plus the Visitor Center has their own room that is set up almost like a shrine to Patsy!  Many pictures of her, record covers, a gold record and much more memorabilia are displayed! 

Then we were off to the Museum of the Shenadoah Valley to see their “Becoming Patsy Cline” special exhibit on its very last day.  Because so many of the very valuable artifacts displayed came from multiple owners and their security was paramount, the Museum had decided that the exhibit would not travel to any other cities.  It would be taken down and everything returned to their respective owners, which seemed a real shame, since the Museum had spent $500,000 to stage this very well done exhibit!

Hilda's sewing machine and Patsy's red cowgirl dress

Several of Patsy Cline's outfits

The Museum's slimline card for the exhibit assesses Patsy like this “ Many consider Patsy Cline to be the most popular and influential female country singer in recording history.”  The same exhibit slimline continues “Becoming Patsy Cline tells the story of how this young girl, with the help of her dedicated mother and others, achieved her dream of becoming a successful entertainer.”  It also calls Patsy “the Shenandoah Valley's most famous cultural icon!”

We told told when we entered the Museum that Patsy's brother in law, Mel Dick, who runs her still-popular fan club, would be at the exhibit all day to guide visitors through and tell some personal stories. Well, he sure was personable and knowledgable and added a lot of insights to Patsy's story.  The exhibit starts with her early life, the family's moving around, Patsy's early jobs, her singing on the radio and in clubs and covers her life with both her husbands.  There is a great video of her seminal appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, her Nashville successes and finally, her tragic end.  The exhibit was wonderful but unfortunately, is no more.  Photography was only allowed at the beginning and end of the exhibit so we can't show you much except record covers and the great Patsy Cline signature neon sign made for the exhibit.  It was great to meet Mel Dick, Charlie's younger brother and hear some of his stories!

A little girl in our group grabbed one of the guitars for a photo op.

Next, we drove over to the Patsy Cline Historic House at 608 South Kent Avenue in Winchester, where Patsy lived from 1948-1957.  The house is owned now by Celebrating Patsy Cline Inc.  We missed a guided tour by about 15 minutes and one of the guides came outside to the front porch where we were waiting in the swinging “glider” and told us a little about the house and encouraged us to go to the backyard and see the area where Patsy had a vegetable garden and the chairs used to relax outside.  Also, she pointed out 2 other nearby houses which have a connection to Patsy. 720 South Kent St. is the home where she married Charlie Dick and a house across the street was bought for Hilda by Patsy.  Both houses were sold sometime after Patsy's death.

We had 3 different tour guides for different parts of the house.  The house is very small—a parlor with an upright piano and the kitchen and bathroom on the first floor and a single bedroom and closet with 3 beds, separated by a sheet on the 2^nd floor.  There are a few original items in the house but many objects are period pieces as described by her mother, her siblings and her friends and bought later for the house. Hilda's Singer sewing machine is upstairs in the bedroom where Hilda made Patsy's early outfits and several reproduction cowgirl outfits are displayed.

It was the stories the guides told about Patsy and her family that really made the visit worthwhile for us.  Not sure about the house being on the “wrong side of the tracks” but the tracks are right behind the backyard fence!  The neighborhood has certainly changed too since Patsy's time with more African-American and Hispanic families.   

Our final visit was to Patsy's gravesite at Shenandoah Memorial Park.  This is a large but very well kept up cemetery and Patsy's grave is easy to find.  There is a discrete pointer sign at the edge of the parking lot behind Omp's Funeral Home which points up the steps and toward a stone bench.  The grave is near the bench and is identified by a wide bronze tablet on the ground labeled “Dick”, since that was her married name, but also identifying her as “Patsy Cline.”  The opposite side of the marker is blank, waiting for Charlie Dick to join Patsy.  People have left many copper pennies on the grave marker for good luck!     

The Bell tower erected as a memorial to Patsy Cline

Patsy's birthday is celebrated on Labor Day weekend in the Winchester cemetery with thousands of fans coming to pay their respects to this amazing lady. The bronze plaque on her grave states “ Death Cannot Kill What Never Dies: Love.”  A tall bell tower on the far side of the cemetery close to the lake, installed by her fans in Patsy's memory, rings the hours at the cemetery. There is now a Patsy Cline Boulevard in Winchester and a portion of Route 522 near the cemetery is named “Patsy Cline Memorial Highway.”  Winchester had always considered Patsy to be from the “wrong side of the tracks” and it took many years after her death for the Winchester elite to recognize her success and her obvious tourism potential!  It appears Winchester is finally accepting and embracing Patsy!

For those of us who miss Patsy and love her music, the best consolation is that every country music radio station plays Patsy's songs on a very regular basis.  Her voice sure sounds good, even today!