Kenneth Cartwright Patty


Kenneth Cartwright Patty was a Virginia lawyer who served as the 27th Attorney General of Virginia. Patty was an assistant attorney general before Governor Thomas Stanley appointed him after the resignation of his boss, James Lindsay Almond Jr.. Almond was member of the Democratic political organization led by Senator Harry F. Byrd, and he stepped down to run for Governor during the Massive Resistance crisis in Virginia. Patty's tenure at that position ended after Albertis Harrison, elected during that same 1957 election, took office.

Personal life

Kenneth Patty was born in Parrottsville, Tennessee, where his father, Rev. William Monroe Petty, served at Harned's Chapel. His mother, the former Minnie Bushong, bore at least 3 sons and 3 daughters. An ancestor served in the American Revolutionary War. The family subsequently moved to Tazewell, Virginia. Patty attended Washington and Lee University Law School, graduating in 1918. Patty married Ruth Friend Lacy and had a daughter.
Patty died in 1967 and is buried at Forest Lawn cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.