OBITUARY: Brubaker, Virginia
May 1, 1937 - February 13, 2025
Virginia Belle Tharpe Brubaker, 87, of Roanoke, passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 13, 2025, surrounded by family.
Born on May 1, 1937, in Luray, to the late Emmett Leslie Tharpe and the late Elsie Printz Tharpe, Virginia lived with her foster parents, the late Harry Lee Tharpe and the late Mary Sanders Tharpe from the age of six years old.
A graduate of Shenandoah High School and the two-year pre-nursing program at Madison College (now James Madison University), Virginia received her BS in Nursing in 1959 from The University of Virginia.
Her nursing career spanned employment at The University of Virginia Medical Center and School of Nursing, Charlottesville, VA; Martha Jefferson Hospital, Charlottesville, VA; St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing, Lexington, KY; Giles County Practical Nursing School, Pearisburg, VA; Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music (now Shenandoah University) School of Nursing, Winchester, VA; and School Nurse positions at Timber Ridge Residential School, Winchester, VA, and Massanutten Military Academy, Woodstock, VA.
On June 6, 1959, Virginia married the late Warren Page Brubaker of Luray; they were married for 59 years until Warren's passing. Virginia was also preceded in death by her siblings Frances Tharpe Brown, James Mann Tharpe, and Edward Glenn Tharpe; and by her foster siblings Frances Tharpe Lowers and Frederick Lee Tharpe.
She is survived by her sister Eleanor Jean Tharpe, 92; her son David Warren Brubaker and his wife Heather, along with their children Gregory, Daniel, Matthew, and Kate; and her daughter Laura Virginia Brubaker and her partner Kathryn Stacy-Brubaker, along with Kathryn's children Roy Edward, and his wife Elizabeth, and Lauren, along with Lauren's daughter Khannan.
Virginia was a member of the Luray Christian Church, Luray. A Celebration of Life is planned for springtime.