Virginia Lightner

Virginia went home to be with the Lord she loved on July 3, 2019 at Methodist Nursing home in Fort Smith, AR. She was born on December 20, 1937 to Charles Winfield South and Ruth Pauline (Zinn) South in Bethel Township, PA. She was a born again Christian. After graduating Ford City High School in 1955 she worked at the Kittanning Telephone Co. and later at the Davis Cookie Co. in Rimersburg, Pennsylvania. She was married to her husband, Myron Veryl (Bud) Lightner. They moved to Mesa, Arizona in 1985 where she worked in senior living for nine years. They then moved to Florence, AL for five years before moving back home to retire.

She loved traveling with her husband, Bud, who was also her best friend. They had many good times together, camping and seeing the USA.

She was an avid reader and loved history, fascinated by stories about the pioneers who settled the Old West and the Civil War era. She loved Bible study and the wonderful history of God’s chosen people and his plan of salvation. Her favorite thing was being a mother, having been blessed by God with three sons.

Virginia is survived by sons Robert Allan Lightner wife (Erin), Charles Randall Lightner wife (Debbie )and Roger Lee Lightner wife (Trish). She is also survived by the following grandchildren, Keith Lightner, Sara (Lightner) Gandolfi , Brittany (Lightner) Prentice , Jedidiah Lightner, Bronwen Lightner, Alexander Myron Lightner and Eugene Allan Lightner. Virginia has six great grandchildren : Jordan, Jonathan, Noah, Brynlee, Meredith, and Paislee.

She is also survived by a sister Judith Gale Bechtel (John) and sister-in-law Kay South.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Myron (Bud) Lightner (2003), sisters, Doris Conner and Eleanor South, brother Ronald Wayne South and brother-in-law Doyle Conner.

A private memorial service will be held. Interment will be at Lawn Haven Burial Estates, Worthington, PA .

The family requests any memorials may be given to the following: American Heart Association in honor of the South family, American Cancer Society in honor of the Lightner family and Mental Health in memory of her mother who suffered from mental illness all of her life, or a church or mission that preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and fallen world.