Bernie Partridge, who during NHRA’s formative years was the voice of drag racing as the lead announcer at the organization's national events and later became one of its great leaders, died April 12. He was 79. Partridge, known affectionately as “the Bird,” had been in ill health the last several years.

The loss was the third suffered by one of the first families of NHRA in the last year; third son John died two days previously of a massive heart attack, and second son Gary died in mid-2011 of cancer. The younger Partridges worked on the NHRA crews at West Coast national events; John also did announcing at both the original Irwindale Raceway and the new Irwindale track, and Gary also worked tech and often was part of the starting-line crew, both following in the footsteps of their famous father.

Though Partridge’s official NHRA career spanned more than 30 years, from his appointment as NHRA regional advisor in 1957 through his retirement in 1989, his involvement began much earlier.

Partridge joined the famed Dust Devils Auto Club of Ridgecrest, Calif., in 1951 and was elected its president in 1953, a position in which he served intermittently during the next seven years. He also was strip manager of Inyokern Dragstrip from 1954 through 1962 and an NHRA regional advisor from 1957 to 1961, and he acted as temporary division director during the 1960 season while the national records program was initiated. He announced at NHRA’s earliest national events in the 1950s and was named NHRA’s chief announcer in 1958 and Southwest Division director in December 1962.

Partridge, who tagged legendary Don Garlits with the famous "Big Daddy" nickname while announcing at the 1962 U.S. Nationals, was good on both sides of the microphone. He competed in stock classes at facilities such as Maricopa Dragstrip near Bakersfield from 1951 to 1958 with an assortment of stockers, gassers, and altereds, the most successful of which was a stock '52 Olds that he campaigned at West Coast tracks and was undefeated in in 1955. From 1958 to 1960, he competed in a DeSoto-powered modified roadster that he and his brother-in-law built, and he ran a 409 Chevy in SS/S class through 1962 before becoming a division director.

Bernie Partridge and his wife, P.J., were mainstays of the NHRA headquarters and Field Office staff for decades.

Partridge served as a division director through 1979, when he was chosen to head an experimental regional office as western regional director. In 1981, he was promoted to the newly created position of national field administrator to oversee NHRA’s field operations and serve as the direct liaison between NHRA’s division directors and headquarters. In 1982, he was named vice president-field administration.

Partridge’s wife of more than 50 years, Phillis Jean (P.J.), worked side by side with him in many of his duties and left NHRA in 1990. They were an inseparable and dynamic duo.

In addition to P.J., Partridge is survived by two sons, Bernie Jr. and Jim.

A celebration of life for Bernie will take place Thursday, April 19 at 2 p.m. at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. John's memorial will be held at Irwindale Speedway Saturday, April 21, at 10 a.m.

Partridge with NHRA founder Wally Parks, left, and then NHRA President and current board chairman Dallas Gardner

Partridge, Dave McClelland, left, and the late Steve Evans were NHRA's national event announcing team in the 1970s.

A former racer himself, Partridge had a natural rapport with racers as both a regional and divisional director.