Blog no. 60

Naomi Berrie Partin was born on April 3, 1949, in Nashville, TN to Lt. Col. William Neal Partin and Nonie Mae Davidson. She had two siblings, and their names are Norman Winfield Partin and Nancy (Partin) Rosdeutscher.

After graduating from John Overton High School in the Crieve Hall community of Nashville, TN and working for Castner-Knott’s department store, Naomi started her forty-year long journey in assisting young people with their education. She worked for the state of Tennessee as the Director of Grants and Scholarship Programs.

In 1968, Naomi married Richard Ridley Derryberry. They had one son whom they named Blair. Naomi and Richard, years later, parted ways and divorced. 

In 1972, Naomi and her family decided to move to a small town named Spring Hill, TN. The town welcomed Naomi with open arms, and soon after, she started getting involved in the community. When General Motors came to Spring Hill in the 1980’s, she was an alderman for the city, and for many years, she was deeply involved with the Spring Hill Public Library and their projects. She helped them gather stories for the first and second editions of the book, Spring Hill: Everybody Has a Story, compile a pictorial book of Spring Hill, TN, gather names for a book about Spring Hill, TN’s veterans, and film the oral Spring Hill, TN history project called Spring Hill Speaks. She also had her own projects that she loved to work on, including a list of all the mayors, vice mayors, and aldermen of Spring Hill, TN since its first incorporation in the 1800’s, a timeline of events that happened in Spring Hill, TN, and in 1986, during the Tennessee Homecoming ‘86 celebrations, which she was instrumental in planning. Her and her friend, Mavis Jones, went all around the town and took thousands of pictures of what Spring Hill, TN looked like back then, which is briefly mentioned in the former governor of Tennessee, Lamar Alexander’s, book, Steps Along The Way: A Governor’s Scrapbook. Naomi loved the history of Spring Hill, TN and preserving it was one of her favorite things to do. 

In the 1990’s, Naomi became the president of the Friends of the Spring Hill Public Library, a title she gained once again from 2021 until her death. Naomi served also on the board of Rippa Villa Inc.. 

From July 2022 to July of 2024, I had the pleasure of getting to know Naomi. Naomi was one of the kindest people I have ever known. She was my biggest cheerleader for these blogs. Whenever it came to her getting the chance to speak for a moment at any Spring Hill, TN history event, Naomi would take it upon herself to tell everyone to read my blogs and follow me on Facebook. She was truly like a grandmother to me, and I am lucky to have been able to tell her that on Spring Hill, TN’s Founders’ Day 2024 (May 4, 2024) when the Spring Hill, TN Historic Commission presented her with the city’s second Heart for History award, which had been renamed the Naomi B. Derryberry Heart for History award in her honor.

Sadly, on July 21, 2024, in Spring Hill, Maury County, TN, Naomi died after a nearly two yearlong battle with Leukemia. Naomi was buried at the Spring Hill Memorial Park cemetery in Spring Hill, Maury County, TN. It is for certain when I say that her story will continuously be told for all eternity in the pages of every book she helped put together and by everyone that knew her.