Virginia Eileen Painter

Virginia was born to Warren and Hazel Adkins on January 3, 1922 at home in Riverton, Wyoming. She was their only child. When she was 3 months old, they came by train to Southern California. She spent her early childhood in Lynwood, where her father supported the family as a truck driver, before they joined family in Oregon to help raise turkeys and live on a farm. She helped with chores, enjoyed the farm dogs and horses, and attended schools in Newport. In 1937 the family moved back to Lynwood. Her father, who played guitar and had a very nice singing voice, wanted her to learn music. She wanted to play the piano, but since they couldn’t afford one of those, she chose a saxophone and she loved it. She was in the school band and a community marching band, which gave her the opportunity to perform in the Rose Parade one year. She graduated from Compton High School in 1939. According to the comments her friends wrote in her yearbook, she was a “Really swell gal” and was “Darn good looking”. After high school she went to work where her mother worked in a factory producing throw rugs and chenille bedspreads. She and girlfriends enjoyed riding the bus down to the USO Dances in Long Beach to dance with the sailors. Occasionally they would miss the last bus home and would have to call and wake up one of their fathers to come get them. After the war ended, she met and married Robert Painter, a former Army Air Corps pilot. He was attending USC earning his Pharmacy degree. They built a house in Compton, and called it home for themselves and 3 daughters, Barbara, Linda and Penny. Eventually they decided to leave the big city, so in 1952 they moved the family to Tulare where they lived briefly before moving on to Visalia. They lived on a two-acre lot on what is now Linwood St. near Hurley Ave. They embraced country living and acquired horses, a lamb, a steer, guinea hens, parakeets, cats and a dog. Virginia learned to pull the horse trailer so she could take the girls and their horses to practices with the Visalia Rockettes Precision Drillteam. And there were many, many weekends where the whole family traveled around California for parades, horse shows and rodeos where the Rockettes performed. She grew a backyard garden including boysenberries for cobblers and rhubarb for pies. She was an excellent cook and was known for her beautiful pies. Both she and her mother were excellent seamstresses. Every Easter they made the girls fancy Easter dresses, and often matching dresses for their dolls. In 1957 the Painters moved to Woodlake where Bob bought the Woodlake drugstore. Virginia was active in the Camellia Circle Garden Club, the Lady Lions, and the Presbyterian Church. Bob was a pilot and together they enjoyed many trips to Mexico, Northern California and surround states. They took up golf and would often combine that with a weekend getaway with friends. In 1961, when the youngest of the 3 daughters was 11, a fourth daughter, Patty arrived. Bob and Virginia had just extended their child rearing stage quite a bit longer than they had first anticipated. Over many years they followed and supported their daughter’s activities including Brownies, 4-H, Rockettes, horse shows and competitions, dance, piano and guitar lessons, marching band, volleyball, tennis, summer swim team, cheerleading, and Rainbow Girls to name a few! When they were down to 1 daughter left at home, they bought a motorhome and Virginia became skilled at turning that small space into a home away from home. They travelled far and wide and loved all their adventures. They also traveled and cruised with dear friends, and Virginia started collecting Christmas tree ornaments from all the places she visited. After bod died in 1986, she moved to Visalia where she again created a beautiful home for herself and jumped right into a busy schedule. She continued traveling with friends to Israel, Scandinavia, and other locations. She attended church in Visalia and as a Guild Member for Kaweah Delta she volunteered her time sewing lap blankets and pillows for hospital patients. She volunteered to sort donations for the Visalia Rescue Mission and she helped plan, organize and decorate for social events at her mobile home park. She went to the gym at 6 am regularly for quite a few years. And of course, during all this time, she was a great Mom, Grandma and friend. After a fall resulted in a broken hip, Virginia decided she would like to live somewhere she would have fewer responsibilities, so she chose to live at Walnut Park. She again got involved in the activities offered there, becoming the MVP of their beanbag baseball team, playing cards with new friends, and playing games and doing crafts. Eventually she moved into Casa Grande Senior Care Home where she lived comfortably and happily for 3 years. She turned 95 just two days before her passing on January 5, 2017. She was preceded in death by her husband Bob and daughter Barbara Edwards. She is survived by daughters Linda Rogers, Penny Niadna, and Patty Dougherty and their families, including 4 sons-in-law, 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.

Virginia Eileen Painter

January 3, 1922 - January 5, 2017