Virginia Elizabeth (Miller) Oakes passed peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 in Orange, CA. Virginia was born May 27,1925 in Lake City, AR. She was the youngest of four children born to parents Mallie Elizabeth Sutfin and John Pierce Miller. She lived the first nine years of her life in the small town of Lake City with her Mom and three brothers, her father having passed away in 1929. Times were very difficult during the depression and in 1934 they moved to Joppa, IL to be near other family members.
She married Marion Oakes of Joppa, IL , in Colorado Springs, Co in September of 1943, having traveled there by train to marry him when he was serving in the Army. They lived in Joppa, IL until 1969 at which time they moved to Southern California. She has resided in Sun City, CA for the past 29 years.
As a young woman she loved to dance and spend many hours with her best friend of 87 years, Dot. Together they had many adventures. After moving to California she loved shopping with her daughter, walking three miles every morning with her friend and talking on the phone for hours with her niece, Roberta, friends back in Southern Illinois, and her daughter. She also loved taking cruises and getting dressed up for dinner every night on the cruise. In later years she enjoyed jigsaw puzzles and watching all of the birds in her yard. She was a wonderful cook and there was always room for one more at her table. But most of all, she loved just spending time in her home.
She will be deeply missed by her daughter, Rebecca L. Cripe and her husband Randolph. She was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, Marion, her parents, and her brothers Fred, Lyle and Harold.
She will be interred with her husband at the Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside, CA.
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