Patsy Cline’s Children, Julie and Randy, were just four and two when they lost their mother to a plane crash in 1963 while flying back home from a show in Kansas City. But strange as it may seem, Cline knew her time was short.
So after giving birth to her youngest child, she spontaneously wrote her will on a Delta Airlines stationary. She started the will by declaring that she wanted her two kids to be placed under the care of her mother should anything happen to her:
“I…leave to Hilda Virginia Hensley my mother, my children Julie Symadore Dick and Allen Randolph Dick to be cared for, and raised by the best of her ability until they are eighteen years of age.”
She also wrote that her husband and her children’s father, Charlie Dick, could visit them, but that they must “remain” in her mother’s home until adulthood. She also named her mother as the recipient of her royalties; that way, she could use the payments to take care of the children she will leave behind.
Fifty-nine years after “I Fall to Pieces” singer’s death, you might be wondering where are Patsy Cline’s kids now. If you want to know, please keep on reading below.
Julie Symadore Dick
In September 1957, Patsy Cline married her second husband, Charlie Dick. He was a linotype operator for a local newspaper, The Winchester Star. Just a year after they tied the knot, the happy couple welcomed their first child, Julie Symadore Dick.
After Cline’s death, her mother, Hilda Hensley, took her children as she wished on her will. Hensley continued living in Winchester, Virginia, where she raised Julie and Randy for the first couple of years. Julie and Randy moved back to Nashville when their father, Charlie, remarried in 1965, to singer Jamey Ryan. Cline’s husband has also started a career in the music industry as National Director of Promotion for Starday Records.
Today, Julie is now a wife and homemaker. She has four children, and she’s a grandmother of two. Though Julie did not follow her mother’s footsteps, she has played a significant factor in keeping her mother’s legacy alive. In 2017, she helped open a museum dedicated to Cline in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Patsy Museum houses the biggest collection of artifacts in the world. This includes personal letters and costumes. There are also rare memorabilia from the matriarch’s home that were previously locked away for over five decades.
During the museum’s initial opening days, Cline’s wax figure gave visitors a unique encounter with the human form behind the voice. “I do understand her position in history and the history of Nashville and country music,” Julie said. “I’m still kind of amazed at it myself because there’s ‘Mom’ and then there’s ‘Patsy Cline,’ and I’m actually a fan.”
Though Julie’s recollections with her mom were limited to mere snippets, this did not stop her from producing the biopic, “Patsy and Loretta.” The film did not only highlight the deep friendship between Patsy and Loretta Lynn, but Julie also incorporated her memories of her mom so fans would know what Cline was really like as a mother.
She remembers Cline as a “very much a hands-on mom.”
“She wanted to be there, and even though she loved her work, it was also something that had to be done. It was a way for her to help support the family. She really would rather have been at home, I believe,” Julie said.
Some parts of the film were shot in the actual house when they lived during the last year of Cline’s life. Heart-wrenching scenes of Julie reacting to Cline going on the road are also featured in the biopic.
Those treasured times gave Julie the strength to move past her loss. And with projects like this, it could be the best way to honor her mom she lost to soon.
“With all the years that have passed, you kind of grow accustomed to talking about things, and it’s also been a pleasure to have her remembered,” she said. “[Patsy and Loretta] is just such a happy program that I really didn’t feel a lot of sadness. I actually felt kind of warm and comfortable.”
Allen Randolph ‘Randy’ Dick
In 1961, the Cline and Chalie were blessed again with the arrival of their second child, Allen Randolph, who Cline fondly called Randy.
Randy, on the other hand, preferred to stay behind the scenes. Not much is known about him, though he used to be a drummer for a rock band in Nashville. He also makes regular appearances for events related to Cline.
This only proves Patsy Cline’s children are very determined to keep their mother’s legacy alive.
Tags
Patsy Cline