Virginia Thornton Halter

The second of 6 children of Bill and Patsy Thornton, Ginny was born in Birmingham and a life-long resident. By the time she graduated high school, the family had lived in 8 different homes throughout Birmingham, Homewood, Vestavia and Bluff Park, as her father, grandfather, and uncles developed many residential neighborhoods in the growing Vestavia and Hoover areas. One of her favorite childhood memories was roller skating in the basement with her sister Cathy, who also was her roommate in each of these homes. She attended Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School and John Carroll Catholic High School, where she sparked life-loyal friendships and even got to be on the homecoming court. It was at John Carroll where met Mike Halter, who she began dating her sophomore year and would become her husband of 50 years before his death in 2023. To say that she loved and sorely missed him would be an understatement.

Ginny attended the University of Alabama where she met more life-long friends, and she ultimately graduated from UAB with a degree in history. She later was employed with short-term jobs including working as a travel agent at Brownell Travel and later as a real estate appraiser’s assistant for David Sylvester.

She was fortunate to take a few trips to Europe throughout her life, beginning in college with other southeastern college women. She saw Jimi Hendrix perform his by-then famous rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner live at midnight one July 4th at the 1970 Atlanta International Pop Music Festival. She attended more football games all over the country than one could count, including Super Bowl XIII in Miami, when she was newly pregnant.

She was an avid reader and loved her book club dearly as well as her PEO club and bridge group. She met friends through her husband’s family, friend and work circles, and spent many an afternoon at the pool at Shoal Creek meeting more people. She was a past member of the Service Guild, volunteering at what was at the time called the Early Intervention Center in Homewood. She liked having various neighbors over the years. In her later years, she similarly met more new faces at Lands End condos in Perdido Key. She enjoyed volunteering in the Brookwood Forest library in the 1980’s as part of the PTA, and was fondly remembered many years later by the long-time librarian there, who also recently pre-deceased her. She spent a great deal of her time in the 1990’s in the baseball stands watching her son and his friends play, forming friendships with other spectator parents. She counted the baseball stand days as happy times missed once over. Towards the very end of her life, she typically preferred to leave her television tuned to baseball 24/7.

Self-described as a painfully shy child and young person, and certainly able to entertain herself with a good book and her own thoughts, she in fact thrived most in the company of others.

She loved her large family and the friendships and network of familiarity it provided her - 13 aunts and uncles, including 2 ordained priests (Father Joe James and Father Bill James, both deceased), and 23 first cousins. Similarly, she enjoyed knowing in-laws, extended in-laws, former in-laws, her daughter’s in-laws, and most recently, while she was sick, had the immense pleasure of enjoying the joyful company and friendship of her son’s girlfriend’s mother, Cindy Shannon.

Ginny was a wonderfully devoted mother and grandmother.

She is survived by her daughter Katie Halter Benson (Bryan), son Michael Halter III (Mimi Shannon), and grandchildren Alex, Leah, and Sara Benson. Also surviving her are her sister Cathy Thornton Dent, brother Bill Thornton III (Deedra), brother Jim Thornton (Virginia), brother-in-law Bert Taylor, sister-in-law Mary Ellen Halter Zinser (Mike), aunts, uncles, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Along with her parents (William Littleton Thornton, Jr and Patricia James Thornton) and husband (Lawrence Michael Halter, Jr, “Mike”), Ginny is also predeceased by sister Barbara Thornton Brierre, sister Mary Thornton Taylor, brother-in-law Gary Reuben Dent, father-in-law Lawrence Michael Halter, mother-in-law Evelyn Waites Halter, and many more aunts, uncles, family, and friends.

All who knew Ginny could attest to her strong will, and she led a courageous fight in the face of many health challenges in her last years, not the least of which a benign yet problematic meningioma, but most namely her decades long triumph in the face of multiple sclerosis. The family would like to thank each and every one of the many individuals who helped her during her health battles.

She is now most certainly on her way up to heaven and enjoying a body free of worldly burden. But she will be so missed.

The service and celebration for Ginny will be on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 2 Xavier Circle, Birmingham, AL 35213. Visitation with the family will begin at 10:00 A.M. and the Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 A.M. A reception luncheon will be held immediately after the Mass in the Parish Hall at St. Francis. Burial will follow the luncheon at Elmwood Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Ridout’s Valley Chapel in Homewood.

For memorials, please consider The Tanner Foundation for Neurological Diseases (founded by Dr. Emily Riser in honor of a former patient, benefitting local individuals in need battling Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, and Parkinson’s disease – please visit website www.tanner-foundation.org), St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, or a charity of your choice.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.