Newcombe receives highest honor from O.F.P.A.

Published 11:46 am Wednesday, July 6, 2016

The General Order of the Founders and Patriots of America gathered in the Mile High City — Denver — at the historic Brown Hotel and the University Club from Thursday, May 26, to Sunday, May 29, for the 130th General Court of the Order. 

While in the Mile High City, private tours were given of the State Capitol, the Navarre Museum of Western Art, the Denver Science Museum, Buffalo Bill’s Grave and Museum and the world famous Buckhorn Exchange, where exotic meats and tastes were offered. More than 65 associates from across the nation gathered for the yearly function.

The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (OFPA) is a hereditary organization. Founded in 1896, the OFPA is composed of “Associates,” who trace their ancestry back to those first colonists and who have forefathers in the same male ancestral line who served in the American Revolution. Membership is open by invitation to any man of the age of 18 years, of good moral character and reputation and a citizen of the U.S., who is lineally descended, in the male line of either parent, from an ancestor who settled in any of the original 13 colonies now included in the United States of America prior to May 13, 1657; and one or all of whose intermediate ancestors in the same line, who lived in the period of the American Revolution from 1775-1783, adhered as patriots to the cause of the colonies, shall be eligible for membership in the order. 

The OFPA is broken down into constituent or state societies. The Virginia Society OFPA meets more than twice a year at varying locations throughout the Commonwealth to honor, pay tribute and commemorate the early founders and patriots of our nation.

J. Shane Newcombe, a native of Randolph, and general manager of Accessories Abroad, a wholesale furniture and home accessories company based in Farmville, and High Point, N.C., represented the Commonwealth and the Virginia Society OFPA to the 130th General Court.

Newcombe is the past governor of the Virginia Society, current treasurer of the Virginia Society and serves as the National Order’s deputy-genealogist general. Newcombe’s mother, Virginia “Jenny Lou” Newcombe, accompanied her son on the trip and was recognized as being a direct descendant of James Allen, a founding ancestor who arrived in Jamestowne in 1608. 

During the Governor General’s reception, banquet and awards ceremony in the University Club, Newcombe was bestowed with the Parrish Award, the order’s most prestigious award, which is presented to constituent societies for being the most active, having the highest number of new associate recruits, retaining its roster of associates, holding numerous programs and presentations throughout the calendar year and commemorating the cause of liberty through memorializing our nation’s founders and patriots by means of wreath laying ceremonies, religious services and educational programs.

This marks the eighth consecutive time that the Virginia Society has been awarded the Parrish Award. More information about the order can be found at www.founderspatriots.org.