Ina Dillard Russell Stacy – Army Spouse & Government Employee

Ina Dillard Russell Stacy was born June 22, 1894 in Athens, Georgia, to Richard Brevard and Ina Dillard Russell. Her father became a state supreme court justice and her mother was a teacher   before she married. One of fifteen children, Ina was a sister to United States Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr.

Ina was educated partly by governesses and in the Winder public schools. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she attended the Lucy Cobb Institute in Athens, Georgia, from 1911 to 1913. This was a boarding school for girls founded by General T. R. R. Cobb, who named it for his daughter.

During World War I, Ina was appointed as a clerk in the new Bureau of War Risk Insurance, which later became the Veterans Administration, in Washington, DC. She would be the first Russell to move to Washington.

On June 19, 1931, Ina graduated from the Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. She was a member of the Phi Delta Delta legal fraternity. She was admitted to the Georgia bar by her father, Richard Russell, while he was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. While never in private practice, Ina received numerous promotions while working at the Veteran’s Administration and used her legal training as a claims adjuster.

She married Jean K. Stacy on June 4, 1938. Stacy, a native of Wynne, Arkansas, was a Captain in the Army Reserves, who was serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps. During World War II, Stacy entered active service and was promoted to Major. He served in Great Britain for twenty-five months and was retired for disability as a Lieutenant Colonel. He died on March 7, 1955 and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

  Ina assisted her brother, Senator Richard Russell, by entertaining his colleagues and guests for numerous events held in Washington, DC, from 1933 until 1956 and in Winder, Georgia, until the senator’s death in 1971. She was especially invaluable during his 1952 presidential campaign, when she acted as his official hostess during the Democratic Convention in Chicago.

In 1956, Ina retired from the Veteran’s Administration and returned to Winder to live in the family home until 1971. She then lived in Atlanta briefly, before returning to Winder. Ina Russell Stacy died on May 13, 1991 in Georgia and was buried next to her husband in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard