Late Middlesex County native Pat Perkinson accomplished much in life

by Larry Chowning – 

March is Women’s History Month and as a reminder of the significance women have played, the Sentinel will focus in this article on the career of the late Patricia (Pat) Royal Perkinson, a Middlesex County native who was once secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Perkinson rose through the political ranks to become administrative assistant to Virginia Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr. She made a name for herself as press aide to Godwin during his first term, from 1966 to 1970. When he returned for a second term in 1974, she served as secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Her duties included assisting the state boards and commissions.

She was later named administrative assistant to the chancellor of the Virginia community college system. Prior to that, she was a feature writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD) and Rural Virginia magazine.

When the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors established a 2007 Middlesex County 400th Jamestown Anniversary Committee, Perkinson was appointed to the committee and through her diligent efforts pressed to have a complete history of Middlesex County written and published because none had ever been undertaken.

She died, however, on Feb. 14, 2010, before the text was completed, but her efforts were realized when “Signatures in Time — A Living History of Middlesex County” was completed and published in 2012…