Virginia McKeithen Cheshier, age 95, departed this life peacefully on March 25, 2011 in Winter Haven, Florida to be with the Lord and celebrate a sweet reunion with her beloved husband, Buddy, devoted parents and family, and dear friends. She was born Virginia Morrison McKeithen on January 23, 1916 to Henry Hampton “Hallie” McKeithen and Annie Mae (Morrison) McKeithen in Wilmington, North Carolina.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, September 4, at 1 PM at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Florence, South Carolina.
Virginia loved and served Jesus Christ all her life. She often said her greatest fulfillment in life was to be the wife of Buddy and the mother of Paul and Harley. She was a child of the church and a child of the South, deeply appreciating her roots. She especially loved classical music, sacred music and opera. The Texaco Metropolitan Opera broadcast was tuned in on the radio every Saturday. She knew by heart the words to countless hymns.
Virginia was gifted with an amazingly keen, inquisitive intellect and a tireless, exemplary work ethic. She had a generous, compassionate spirit, a hearty sense of humor and a delightful dry wit. In spite of her many gifts, she was most self-effacing all her life.
She possessed an exquisite mastery of Latin and of the English Language and derived great satisfaction from awakening students to the Commentaries of Julius Caesar, the beauty and artistry of Shakespeare, the complexities of Milton and Chaucer, and the nuances of self-expression required in English Composition assignments. She was an “Old School” disciplinarian in the classroom, yet not averse to enough levity to keep her students engaged.
Virginia was uprooted three times in her life and relocated to live among total strangers. She set a profound example of how to move to a new locale, decide on a church home, become involved in the new community and make new, dear friends for life.
The family moved to Florence, South Carolina in 1917 where Virginia lived for the next 40 years. She was raised in the Presbyterian Church and imbued by her parents with a strong and abiding faith which she lived all her life. She enjoyed many activities in church and school, graduating first in her class from Florence High School in 1933. She attended Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina where she participated in many musical and student government activities. She won a scholarship and the Academic Excellence Medal for being first in her class all four years and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Latin in 1937. She returned to Florence and embarked on what would become a life-long teaching career, ultimately teaching Latin and History at McClenaghan High School.
Virginia met the love of her life, Finley Paul “Buddy” Cheshier, in 1939 when he rented a room in her parents’ house. They were married January 22, 1942 shortly before Buddy, then a Captain in the Army, was sent to England during World War II. They were married 47 years. After the war they made a home in Florence and began raising their two sons. Virginia continued her teaching and sponsored many student activities. She also sang in the church choir, taught Bible classes and played the organ and piano.
In 1957 Buddy was transferred by a new employer to South Georgia. The family moved to Ocilla, where they would make a home for the next 36 years. After a year teaching English in Jr. High, Virginia taught Latin and Senior English at Irwin County High School until 1970. She also wrote speeches for the Debate Team and various official communications for the high school. In 1963 son Paul won the High School’s STAR Student Award and designated Virginia as his STAR Teacher.
When the family moved to Georgia they joined the Ocilla United Methodist Church where Virginia taught the Men’s Bible Class for 17 years, the Women’s Guild for 35 years, and the Together Class for 10 years in addition to singing in the choir and playing the organ and piano frequently and serving as Secretary and Vice President of the UMW.
In Florence, Virginia had been in Little Theater and federated literary clubs and had won third place for her paper “Home and Career” for The South Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs. In Georgia she also served in various clubs and a term as Secretary of the Georgia Vocational Association.
Virginia left Irwin County High School in 1970 and took a position as Communication Skills teacher at Ben-Hill Irwin Tech (now Wiregrass Georgia Tech), where she taught until “retiring” in 1981. On that occasion she was presented with the Master Teacher Award. She continued to teach in the Evening Division and worked part-time in the office checking grammar and punctuation on communications going out from the school.
If anyone in Ocilla wanted help with writing composition or with grammar and punctuation and wanted the product to be correct and well done during the 36 years Virginia lived there, she was always ready and willing to assist. She took great satisfaction in proof reading and editing countless articles for the newspaper, speeches, communiqués, Master’s Theses, Doctoral Dissertations, and a friend’s novel.
After losing her husband Buddy in 1989 and suffering various health issues, Virginia left Ocilla in 1993 to move close to son Harley and his wife Diane in Woodstock, Connecticut. She joined the Evangelical Covenant Church, where she participated in and helped teach a Bible Class. She also helped to home school several children by teaching them Latin.
In 2005 son Harley and wife Diane relocated to Winter Haven, Florida; and Virginia went along with them, taking up residence in an assisted living facility. She missed her Northern friends, but she loved being back in the South with warm weather and no snow to be shoveled. She took great delight in reading, going to Bible Class, working three crossword puzzles and the Jumble daily, keeping up with current events, and enjoying visits from family and friends.
Virginia was preceded in death by husband Buddy, her parents, sisters Hallie Mae (McKeithen) Harley and Mildred Louise “Tootsie” (McKeithen) Rogers, and brother Henry Holmes McKeithen. She was the last of her generation in the family and leaves an immense legacy of love, faith, devotion, and erudition.
She is survived by sons Paul Cheshier and his wife Gundi of Brookings, Oregon and Harley Cheshier and his wife Diane of Winter Haven, Florida; grandchildren Patrick Cheshier and wife Susan, Chrissy Cheshier Patrick and husband Allen, and Kati Cheshier Trammel and husband Marvin; great-granddaughters Karin, Karissa and Kaylee; great-grandsons Isaac, Jake and Gabriel; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers Virginia requested that donations in her memory be made to Ocilla United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 61, Ocilla, GA 31774; or to Evangelical Covenant Church, 24 Child Hill Road, Woodstock, CT, 06281-2349 or to a favorite charity.