About Patricia Jane Russell

Patricia Jane Russell, 1945. Navy Nurse training photo, sent to her brother Maclyn.

Patricia Jane Russell, more often referred to as “Pat”, was a mother to 4 sons and 4 daughters. She was a Registered Nurse and youngest surgical nurse, ever at Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach, FL. Her life was tragically lost as a result of domestic violence, on June 15, 1964, when she was thirty-eight years old. Her husband (and father of her 8 children) was tried for murder in the first degree and, after a hung jury, was later acquitted despite the medical examiner as well as his 8-year-old daughter, who saw the event, testified in a court of law with evidence against him.

The fury around the existence of this violence, compounded by the injustice of a society who failed Pat and her children not only in life (through societal support, economic assistance, lack of emotional intelligence, and accountability), but also in death (through our justice system), fuels the mission and desire for the formation of this Collective. The trauma of this loss, as well as years of extreme abuse, echoed throughout generations of Pat's family. But--so did healing. All 8 of her children were able to find a level of health and her grandchildren have arguably cultivated lives for themselves of which she never could have dreamt.

Unfortunately, Pat's story is not unique just to her. Millions of domestic violence reports are filed each year (with many more happening than are filed) and nearly 13,000 deaths are attributed to intimate partner violence each year in the United States*. The PJR Collective hopes to not only vindicate her, but everyone who has lived in the trappings of abuse--not just by helping victims to escape their environments, recover, and to heal. But also, to upend the systems which trap victims and support perpetrators, as these structures ultimately do a disservice to both. The narratives that lead to violence are often cultural and societal in nature and--further, when legislation fails the victim in safety, it fails the perpetrator in accountability and thus both are robbed of the freedom that is found when we are able to cultivate growth in healing. When our society and our legislation fails one, it fails both. It fails us all.

We have named this non-profit in Patricia Jane's honor, that any modicum of the healing that has been left in her wake, be found in society too. May her memory be a blessing and may a culture of healing be our collective legacy.

* Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence Facts | Emory School of Medicine