We are broken in loss. We remember Virginia and celebrate her life; Her wit, her humor, and antics. Who didn’t experience her crooked smile and pause as she worked up cunning line? Or her anxious, whimsical swirling of her hair with a finger?  

I remember how we met. This is my memory of Virginia...

She’d drive past construction of houses on what was once part of her family’s property on Haller Lake. I was working with Mike Brand on a house there and she would ponder and peer as she drove past very slowly. First in her beautiful vintage Pontiac wagon, then in a Mercedes she was, at first, ashamed of. She would often say, “This ain’t Medina,” but never from inside the C320. 

Now, I did have an aptitude for her ways. I grew up with witty, cantankerous great-uncles. So we got along great. She was welcoming and interested in what was coming of her neighborhood. 

Some time later she reached out to ask if I would like to rent an original cottage on the property, second to the lake. My wife and I did. So we got to know her really well. 

She loved her yard and her flowers. Her property was meticulously manicured. She still mowed her own grass and gardened when we first lived there. The yard was important, but Annabel was her delight. Virginia and her cat were a mirror image in some ways. Both calculated and eager, a bit picky, guarded and intellectual. Annabel got the best that money could buy, and Virginia’s love. 

Virginia told many stories of her parents and growing up on Queen Anne and then moving to the lake, squeezed into the original cottage for a while. She was still so proud of her dad, Fred, who had nearly built every part of the new lake house on his own.  

As we got to know her better, we saw more of the house and Fred’s inventive workmanship.  He fashioned light fixtures and railing of old copper components and made his own water heater that remained in operation for over 50 years. Virginia often spoke of an apprentice her dad had chosen. Some kid in the neighborhood... She told how Eric Jaeger would follow Fred around soaking up His knowhow. Eric knew everything about that house. Fred adopted Eric in a way and a lot of Virginia’s memories seemed to be woven in with Eric. He was a big part of Virginia’s life. He adopted her too and loyally took care of her as she needed, especially as she got older. 

She was weary of me at first. She would try to pay me when I helped her with something in the yard. When I denied her prodding, she was skeptical. She later told stories of how many salesmen had tried to swindle her. She had hardened a bit, not bitter, but softened over time. 

She knew our parents and grandparents. We’d all go to dinner at Rays Boathouse- upstairs-when our families were in town. Virginia was right there with us when our first child died at 21 weeks. She supported our decision to move back home after that. 

The day we moved back to Colorado, she walked up her driveway to the cottage house carrying four boxes of tissue, whimpering in her classic way, saying, “We’re gonna need these.”

We adopted her. She adopted us and our kids haven’t yet figured out that Grandma Virginia isn’t quite in the family tree. But like her tended grape vines next to the cottage house, we were grafted together. 

When we visited her last September, we were so pleased she was still sharp and that she remembered us. We laughed together at old memories and had an classic Virginia ice cream party: multiple flavors, of course. 

A picture in my mind brings me closure: Before bed each night, Virginia would religiously peer out the window looking up the drive and close the curtains. Her last act is over, but the memories are rich. 

We met Virginia when our son, Andy, and his wife moved into her rental house.  Through the course of them living near her, we all became to love her and enjoyed her.  We always looked forward to our visits to Seattle so we could see Virginia. We were so happy when she visited Colorado.  We will miss her greatly.   Gary and Charlotte Billings 

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Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home & Cemetery

Virginia Warren

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OBITUARY

Virginia Louise Warren

7 October, 1934 – 15 June, 2018

Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home & Cemetery

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