Virginia Louise Holliman VanHorn, 100, of Greenville, Texas, went to be with her Lord on January 17, 2024.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. at Ridgecrest Baptist Church with Dr. Jim Sandin officiating. Arrangements were handled with Coker-Mathews Funeral Home.
Virginia was born on December 28, 1923, to Irene Stuckey Holliman and Elijah J. Holliman of Port Arthur, Texas. She grew up in Port Arthur, where she had many childhood friends. She graduated from high school in the spring of 1942, a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many of her classmates enlisted in the military.
Virginia went to college, where she studied poetry and majored in Library Science. While in college, she published ”Wishing Star”, a collection of her original poems. She was involved in ballet dancing while in college and also enjoyed ice skating. She loved poetry, ice skating, ballet dancing, and visiting the library. Upon graduation, she worked as a Librarian in several Texas towns. In 1950, her career took her to Corpus Christi, TX, where she met and married John Rodgers Van Horn of Elyria, Ohio.
In 1952, Virginia traveled aboard a U.S. Navy ship to the island of Guam, where John was stationed at Anderson Air Force Base. Virginia became the Base Librarian at Anderson. In 1953, the couple returned to the US, and John was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1955, the oldest son James was born at Carswell. In 1958, John went on Reserve duty, and son Peter was born in Fort Worth. The family moved several times, ending up in Angleton, TX, and Virginia became County Librarian for Brazoria County. James and Peter spent most of their childhood in Angleton.
In 1981, John and Virginia moved to Troy, Tx and Peter moved to Greenville, TX to work at E-Systems.
In 2004, Virginia moved to Greenville to be near James and Peter. She joined Ridgecrest Baptist Church, where James and Peter were attending. She was interviewed by Greenville Herald Banner reporter Carol Ferguson, for an article in the paper’s ”Sunday Brunch” column.
In 2023, at the age of 99, Virginia moved in with Peter and James. They took care of her at their home. She celebrated her 100th birthday at Peter’s home, on December 28, 2023.
She is survived by her sons James and Peter VanHorn, grandchildren Jason J. VanHorn, Kevin C. VanHorn, Heather A. VanHorn, nieces Sally Stephens Campbell, Suzanne Stephens, and Sherry Holliman.
Virginia was preceded in death by her parents Irene Stuckey Holliman and Elijah J. Holliman, older sister Juanita Holliman Stephens, older brother Earl J. Holliman, and niece Sandra Holliman.
