Virginia Smith

Virginia C. Harr (Earl) Smith was born on July 9, 1921 in Canaan Valley, near Davis, W.V. and joined her husband Earl on December 27, 2015.  She was the daughter of the late Frank and Carolina Kesner Harr.  Virginia was the last surviving member of her immediate family.  She was preceded in death by her husband Earl, sisters Mable Susan (Bennett) Cooper, Mildred (Lawrence) Bandy and Mary Agnes (Glen) Carr, brothers Frank Owen (Ruth) Harr, Emery “Pete” Harr, Raymond “Buck” (Lucille) Harr and Charles Lindberg (Betty) Harr.

Virginia was raised on the family farm on Freeland Road in Canaan Valley.  Her grandparents Raleigh “Buck” and Mary Elizabeth Harr were one of the first settlers in Canaan Valley!  Virginia attended Cosner School in the Valley and graduated from Davis High School in 1939.  After graduation she moved to Baltimore, Maryland where she worked at various jobs including defense work until World War II ended.

On January 30, 1943, in Baltimore, Maryland, Virginia married Earl Conrad Smith of Harman, WV.  After the war they lived in WV, until April 1948, when they moved to Akron, Ohio.  They had two daughters, Linda Joyce and Carol Ann, and were married for 34 years until Earl’s passing on January 16, 1977.  Virginia continued living in Akron until 1994 when she moved to Columbus, Ohio with her daughter Linda, and her family.

Surviving are two daughters, Linda Joyce and husband John Saros of Columbus, Ohio and Carol Ann and husband Douglas Teter of Red Creek, WV.  She has five grandchildren, Michael and wife Heather Saros of Shakopee, MN, Daniel and wife Stacy-Hoult Saros of Valparaiso, IN, Cheryl Lyn and husband Brian Bennett, Red Creek, WV, Charlotte and husband Darryl Armentrout of Harmon, WV, Elizabeth and husband Marc Bonner of Dry Fork, WV and nine great-grandchildren, Isaac, Levi, and Isabella Bennett, Sheridan Bonner, Drexell, Braydon and Harmony Armentrout, Charles Belcher and Kelby Saros.  Also surviving are her sisters-in-law Lucille Harr of Moorfield, WV, and Ruth Harr, York, Pennsylvania, and several nieces and nephews.

Virginia was a warm and loving homemaker, who watched closely over her daughters and their education.  She used her expertise as a seamstress to make wonderful dresses and clothes for them all through their school years, embedded in them a love of reading and going to the library, and always encouraged their education.  She had a quick wit and extraordinarily great common sense.

Virginia “Gin” was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, who devoted her life to her family.  She was a happy person who loved family reunions, cooking and making sure everyone had their coats on in cold weather.  She will be greatly missed.

Friends will be received Saturday, January 2, 2015 from 10AM - 2PM, the funeral hour, at Hinkle Funeral Home with Rev. Lonnie Daniels officiating. Interment will follow in Buena Cemetery. Hinkle Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. www.hinklefuneralhome.com