Virginia was born on the cusp of the Depression, January 8, 1929 on a farm outside Sidney, Texas in Comanche County. Her mother was Nellie Lee Taylor Robertson and her father was Edwin Wilburn (Bill) Robertson. Virginia said her dad’s family “were a family of readers” who gave ordinary housework a lower priority—“readers not cleaners”. Virginia was very literate, earning good grades at Texas Tech, but she also fought indoor dust with a vengeance.
Virginia’s mother, Nellie, died of diphtheria when Virginia was only four. Virginia’s younger brother Jerry Robertson was only six months. They were then raised by her grandmother, Annie Lee Bryant Taylor. In the peak of the Depression, Virginia’s father went north, finding work in Missouri leaving her and her brother Jerry in the care of her Grandma Taylor.
Virginia grew up and went to school around Hermleigh, Texas with her best friend Ina Myrhl Adams. She picked cotton, survived without electricity or plumbing, yet graduated Valedictorian of her small rural school.
After briefly attending Texas Tech, she moved to Odessa in 1949 and married Joe Doris Roemisch. They had a son, Jerry Joe, born in 1951 and a daughter Rebecca Lea, born in 1959.
Virginia thrived as a homemaker and active member of Parkview Church of Christ. There she was very involved teaching Sunday school, attending all services and vigorously engaged in social and benevolent activities. She was always a key member of the congregation. Until her death, she was the longest surviving member of Parkview, joining in 1949. After almost fifty years of marriage, Joe Roemisch died in 1994. More than a decade later, Virginia remarried widower and former Parkview minister Joe Cross who died in 2008.
Virginia moved to Brookdale Assisted Living in March 2018 where she quickly shared her sunny disposition and beautiful presence. She was especially close with fellow resident Carolyn Wilson; she also reestablished a longstanding relationship with Mildred Ellis, another esteemed Brookdale member and Parkview congregant.
Virginia is survived by son Jerry (Shelia) Roemisch and daughter Rebecca (Mark) Manley, along with her brother Jerry Robertson (Beverly) and half-sisters Dorothy, Wanda and Sylvia. Another half-sister, Sue, along with her stepmother Lee are deceased. She had two beautiful granddaughters, Kelsee (Aaron) Jones and Shelby (Chad) White. She was also blessed with four precious great-granddaughters and two great-grandsons.
A service for Virginia will be held Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 2:00 pm at the Parkview Church of Christ in Odessa. Burial to follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens. A visitation is set for Wednesday, March 6, 2019 from 5pm-7pm at Hubbard-Kelly Funeral Home.
