Virginia Kirkpatrick
January 26, 1920 — November 12, 2020
Virginia Kirkpatrick
Over the 100 years of her life, Virginia Kirkpatrick became friends with hundreds of people living in and around Pleasantville, Iowa. With always a smile, a positive outlook, and rarely a complaint, she could be counted on to listen and respond with a word of advice and a helping hand.
She was born Helen Virginia Long on January 26, 1920 on a farm north of Sandyville, Iowa. She recalled moving with her parents, Roy and Nellie Long, four sisters and a brother into town three years later: “I rode in the big wagon that was pulled by two large horses. There were no pavements or even gravel on the roads; I remember when they paved the road (highway 92) past our house.”
“We were leaving a house of three small rooms and entering a house with six large rooms and two small ones,” she recalled. “We had no electric, refrigerator, fans or air conditioning…Everything was cooked or canned on the old cook stove.”
She grew up attending elementary and high school in Sandyville, recalling that she, her sisters and brother “had all kinds of parties—halloween parties, coasting parties, Christmas parties and just plain parties. We would go to a pasture and build a big bonfire and roast marshmallows or wieners and play games.”
She married Paul Kirkpatrick on March 15, 1937 in Osceola, and they lived on farms in the Sandyville area until moving to Des Moines in 1942.
Virginia and her husband of 70 years moved to Pleasantville at the end of World War II. She worked as a clerk at Prange Grocery for 10 years, then for 12 years in the credit department of Younker’s Department Store becoming billing supervisor of accounts receivable. She was then the office manager of Prange Trucking until both she and Paul retired in 1982. After that, they operated the North End Service in Pleasantville for another five years.
Virginia had lived at the Homestead Living Center in Knoxville since 2017 and celebrated her 100th birthday there with more than 100 family and friends on January 26, 2020.
She passed away on November 12, 2020, survived by son Jerry of West Linn, Oregon; two granddaughters--Wendy (Steve) Bevel of Santa Clarita, California, and Page (Phil) Gianella of Hubbard, Oregon; six great-grandchildren—Brittny Bevel, Tampa, Florida; Nathan (Sarah) Bevel, Santa Clarita, California; Tygh (Mindy) Gianella, Woodburn, Oregon; Tevin (Amy) Gianella, Cloverdale, Oregon; Trey (Sami) Gianella, Tualatin, Oregon; Trenton Gianella, Heppner, Oregon; and two great-great-granddaughters, Hazel Page and Kella Rae Gianella.
The great-grandchildren called her “Nana,” and fondly remember playing their favorite game of hide-the-thimble, and eating her stuffed pork chops, homemade noodles, and blueberry cheesecake pie. She spent five years hand-embroidering quilts for each of her granddaughters after retiring.
She is preceded in death by husband Paul on June 5, 2006, grandson Scott, and her four sisters and a brother—LaVaughn (Heaberlin), Ruth (Sinnard), Mary (Brown), Eula (Porter), and Guy.
Because of the COVID virus risk, the family plans a private remembrance in Oregon. Friends of Virginia are invited to visit Mason Funeral Home from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 followed by a graveside service at Pleasantville Cemetery. For those desiring, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul’s Methodist Church and Webb Shadle Library, both in Pleasantville.
Over the 100 years of her life, Virginia Kirkpatrick became friends with hundreds of people living in and around Pleasantville, Iowa. With always a smile, a positive outlook, and rarely a complaint, she could be counted on to listen and respond with a word of advice and a helping hand.
She was born Helen Virginia Long on January 26, 1920 on a farm north of Sandyville, Iowa. She recalled moving with her parents, Roy and Nellie Long, four sisters and a brother into town three years later: “I rode in the big wagon that was pulled by two large horses. There were no pavements or even gravel on the roads; I remember when they paved the road (highway 92) past our house.”
“We were leaving a house of three small rooms and entering a house with six large rooms and two small ones,” she recalled. “We had no electric, refrigerator, fans or air conditioning…Everything was cooked or canned on the old cook stove.”
She grew up attending elementary and high school in Sandyville, recalling that she, her sisters and brother “had all kinds of parties—halloween parties, coasting parties, Christmas parties and just plain parties. We would go to a pasture and build a big bonfire and roast marshmallows or wieners and play games.”
She married Paul Kirkpatrick on March 15, 1937 in Osceola, and they lived on farms in the Sandyville area until moving to Des Moines in 1942.
Virginia and her husband of 70 years moved to Pleasantville at the end of World War II. She worked as a clerk at Prange Grocery for 10 years, then for 12 years in the credit department of Younker’s Department Store becoming billing supervisor of accounts receivable. She was then the office manager of Prange Trucking until both she and Paul retired in 1982. After that, they operated the North End Service in Pleasantville for another five years.
Virginia had lived at the Homestead Living Center in Knoxville since 2017 and celebrated her 100th birthday there with more than 100 family and friends on January 26, 2020.
She passed away on November 12, 2020, survived by son Jerry of West Linn, Oregon; two granddaughters--Wendy (Steve) Bevel of Santa Clarita, California, and Page (Phil) Gianella of Hubbard, Oregon; six great-grandchildren—Brittny Bevel, Tampa, Florida; Nathan (Sarah) Bevel, Santa Clarita, California; Tygh (Mindy) Gianella, Woodburn, Oregon; Tevin (Amy) Gianella, Cloverdale, Oregon; Trey (Sami) Gianella, Tualatin, Oregon; Trenton Gianella, Heppner, Oregon; and two great-great-granddaughters, Hazel Page and Kella Rae Gianella.
The great-grandchildren called her “Nana,” and fondly remember playing their favorite game of hide-the-thimble, and eating her stuffed pork chops, homemade noodles, and blueberry cheesecake pie. She spent five years hand-embroidering quilts for each of her granddaughters after retiring.
She is preceded in death by husband Paul on June 5, 2006, grandson Scott, and her four sisters and a brother—LaVaughn (Heaberlin), Ruth (Sinnard), Mary (Brown), Eula (Porter), and Guy.
Because of the COVID virus risk, the family plans a private remembrance in Oregon. Friends of Virginia are invited to visit Mason Funeral Home from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 followed by a graveside service at Pleasantville Cemetery. For those desiring, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul’s Methodist Church and Webb Shadle Library, both in Pleasantville.
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