Virgil Leon Mitchell Jr.

Virgil L. Mitchell Jr. was born in Opelika, Alabama to Virgil Mitchell Sr. and Florence Lena Bagby Mitchell. The family moved to Birmingham in 1926 to find better job opportunities and moved to Homewood in 1931 and has lived there since then. Virgil was retired from US Steel with 42 years of service in the Department of Metallurgy. However, from 1942 to 1946 he served in the US Army Air Corp. He served in the Pacific theater as a radar operator on flight status with the 6th Emergency Rescue Squadron. His squadron was a member of the support group for the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Kyushu, Japan on August 9, 1945. His plane was on patrol in the China Sea, and about 40 miles from Nagasaki. Over the ocean the explosion was clearly visible from that distance. That was the bomb that ended WWII.

While in the Army Air Corp which was heavy on athletics to prepare the airmen for combat he played third base on the squadron baseball team at Scott Field in Belleville, Illinois and at Boca Raton Air Base in Florida he participated in the squadron Golden Glove boxing events as a light-heavyweight.

Virgil as a teenager was a former winner of a Birmingham News scholarship to Gulf Coast Military Academy with his sponsors being his teacher, principal of Edgewood School, and his pastor. He is a graduate of Marion Military Institute and studied at Jamestown College.

Virgil was a ham radio operator with the call Kg4i and was a pioneer in the operation of Slow Scan Television over the allotted audio frequencies.

Virgil had many hobbies but primarily sports, electronics, and gardening. He loved sports so much and before the days of scrambling, he had five satellite dishes so he could receive all the events.

He coached Dixie Youth Baseball 12 year old boys, and won the 1973 Homewood championship.

He was a freelance writer for several years writing on gardening and many articles for satellite television wholesalers and retailers.

His family would travel all-round the southeast attending Rose Shows and State Fairs. He had at one time 150 rose bushes and traveled around the south to rose shows winning many awards. His biggest award was in 1959 winning The City of Portland National Trophy. He also won several awards from The American Rose Society for the breeding of roses. Many visitors came to his home to see his garden which was open to the public.

Late in life he took up ballroom dancing. He joined The Club, Concordia Club and also danced at senior centers in the area.

Mr. Mitchell is preceded in death by his loving wife of 48 years, Eunice Irene Hollis Mitchell.

He leaves behind to cherish his memory his children, Barbara Mitchell Kimbrough, Steven Dale Mitchell (Jeanne), Vickie Mitchell Clark, and Donald Wayne Mitchell. Grandchildren: Jenny Haun, Kelly Parker(Jay), Jennifer Kimbrough, Alex Clark, and Sarah Ball (John). Great grand-children: Jacob Haun, Hannah Haun, Will Staggs, Ella Staggs, and Lena Ball.

Visitation will be Friday, August 13, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Ridout’s Valley Chapel in Homewood, with a graveside service to follow at Elmwood Cemetery.