Virginia Archer Foster

Virginia Archer Foster (Ginger/Gingee/Mom) passed away on Thursday, January 25, 2024. She was born May 11, 1932 to Bernice Entrekin Archer and Benjamin Archer, Jr. in Rome, Georgia. She is survived by her children, Kate Foster Ard (Coley), Ralph Kelsey Foster III (Sarah) and Charles Emory Foster (Kathy), her grandchildren Marie Foster Morgan (Tanner), Charlie Foster, Kelsey Foster, and Ashley Ard, great grandchild Millie Virgina Morgan and her much loved nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her mother and sisters Martha Loretta (infant death) and JoAnn Wall, and the love of her life, Ralph Kelsey Foster, Jr.

From Rome, GA, she moved to Chester, SC with her mother and sister where she graduated from Chester High School, then Winthrop College. At Winthrop she was a member of Phi Upsilon Omicron, a Home Economics honorary society. She and Kelsey were married in 1954 and after adventures from Watertown, NY (Southern girl had never been above the Mason Dixon line and the first night was 48 below) to Charlotte, they settled in Columbia. She was a member of the Junior League of Columbia and a lifetime member of Eastminster Presbyterian Church. Ginger worked as a secretary for the Columbia Reading Foundation (now Sandhills School), as a Secretary at Timmerman School, as Manager of Gibson’s on Saluda and as a receptionist for Britton & Jameson Realtors.

She will be remembered for her smile, her generosity, her kindness, her ferocity playing card games of any kind but particularly bridge, her stories, her green thumb and the depth of her love for her family, extended family and those lucky enough to be her friends. This love was at the heart of two of her favorite stories to share. One was from her time at Gibsons in 5 Points where on an almost daily basis one or more of her “children” would stop by to see Mom between classes at Carolina. A co-worker once asked how many children she had and she would smile say “three I gave birth to and have too many count that come with those three.” The second she loved to share was her great pride in having a home that was open to her “children” and enjoyed getting up on weekend and summer mornings to see how many would be there for breakfast and Sunday dinners. She joked that the difference between boomerangs and children is that when boomerangs come back, they come back alone (but she loved every minute of it)!

Visitation will be at Dunbar Funeral Home, 3926 Devine Street, Columbia, SC 29205 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 9th and the memorial service will be at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 3200 Trenholm Road, Columbias, SC 29204 at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 10th. A private burial will be held by her children.

Memorials may be made to The Therapy Place (www.thetherapyplace.org) or Sandhills School (www.sandhillsschool.org).