Editing Virgil Partch (section)

==Later life and death==
In 1979, Partch was awarded the [[Inkpot Award]].<ref>[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]</ref> With the onset of cataracts, Partch retired from cartooning in January 1984, and donated his collection of 3,700 original cartoons to the [[University of California, Irvine]] library. Partch and his wife died in an auto accident August 10, 1984, on [[Interstate 5]] near [[Valencia, California]]. Due to his aggressive creative efforts, at the time of his death he left behind enough "Big George" panels for the feature to continue for six more years of new material.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-22-vw-20831-story.html|title=Cartoonist Leaves a Legacy of 'Big George'|first=Dennis |last=McLellan|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 22, 1986}}</ref>

His cousin was the composer [[Harry Partch]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADuyy0FeFfwC&q=virgil+%22harry+partch%22&pg=PA38|author-link=Jonathan Williams (poet)|last=Williams|first=Jonathan|title=A Palpable Elysium: Portraits of Genius and Solitude|chapter=Harry Partch (1901-1974)|page=38|publisher=David R. Godine|year=2002|isbn=9781567921496 | quote=It's fitting that his cousin VIP (Virgil Partch) was a fine zany cartoonist of his time.}}</ref>