Laura Lea Tuck Winthrop Partridge Johnson Partridge (Nee Johnson)

Laura Lea Winthrop Partridge (nee Johnson), known to all as Tuck, died November 5th, 2012. She was a tough and loyal Army wife, married for 67 years to Robert Partridge (USMA ’36). Born on Staten Island, NY on August 1st, 1915, she was educated at the Staten Island Academy and for one year at Case Western Reserve University. She was a model in New York when she met Bob on a blind date at West Point. They were married in 1936. Their first tour of duty was Ft. Sill, Oklahoma; they then moved to Hawai’i in 1939, leaving just before Pearl Harbor. During the war and for five decades afterwards, Tuck served as a Red Cross volunteer. In New York during the war, she drove 2 ½ ton trucks; counseled war wounded and helped soldiers’ families.

She was among the first Army wives to go to bombed-out Germany in 1946 to be with Bob. Twenty years later she was the very first Army wife to be inducted in the Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher.

She was the mother of two sons, Bruce of Haverford PA and Colin of San Francisco CA, and mother-in-law to Jane Widseth and Colin Childerley. Her two grandsons, John and Carl live in Denver and Philadelphia. She had the joy of seeing her first great-grandson, Quinn, when she was 96.

She loved Bob (her “shining star”), the Army life, and her sons and their families. A knitter of hundreds of sweaters for friends and family and of baby caps for sick infants. An iron lady with a heart of gold, never daunted: she could pack our home on 24 hours’ notice or face down a bull buffalo. A model of wisdom, wit (always quick with a sometimes zany sense of humor), and fortitude, she was an inspiration to all those who knew her well. She will be missed by her family, Robin (her friend and companion in her last years) and the dedicated staff at the Health Care Center of the Army Residence Community.

A celebration of life will be held on Monday, November 26, 2012 at 2:30 P.M. at the Army Residence Community Chapel.