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It was 38 years ago (March 3, 1963) that Patsy Cline made her final performance. She had the flu, but was performing a benefit for a disc jockey that had lost his life in an automobile accident in Kansas City, Missouri. The last song she sang was Moon Mulligan's "I'll Sail My Ship Alone." The plane was owned by Patsy's manager, Randy Hughes, and he was at the controls on the fated flight. They had been scheduled to fly home on March 4th, but the weather was too bad, so they stayed another day. When the weather wasn't much better the following day, they sat at the airport waiting for it to clear. After a few hours, Patsy's friend, Dottie West asked Patsy if she wanted to go back with her in the car. Patsy seriously contemplated this, but just before they were going, Randy Hughes, who had been checking the weather reports constantly, told Patsy that the weather had cleared and they could leave, so Patsy decided she would fly. The plane took off at 6:07 pm on March 5, 1963. The passengers, Randy Hughes, Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins, were last seen at the airfield in Dyersburg, Tennessee, 90 miles from home. The plaque at Patsy's grave says: "Death can not kill what never dies." Patsy was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1960. She was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. The bronze plaque in her honor reads, in part: "Patsy will live in country music annals as one of its outstanding vocalists... Her heritage of recordings is testimony to her artistic capacity. (Her) biggest hit, "I Fall to Pieces"... has become a standard... Joined Grand Ole Opry 1960... (which was the) realization of a lifelong ambition." Through her music she touched many, and continues to do so every day.
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