Mary Virginia Emerson

Mary Virginia Emerson (Virginia) passed into the arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on April 21st, 2022, surrounded by family. She was born on June 30th, 1935, in Ft. Green, FL. Yes, she was a true Floridian.

Virginia is predeceased by her parents, Eugene and Jane Emerson; sisters, Margaret and Janie and Brother Jimmy.

Virginia is survived by her daughters, Jeannie (Chris) Holliday and Cindy (Roy) Uvalle; her grandchildren and great grandchildren, Ray (Romina) Uvalle and children Miranda and Adrien, and George Uvalle and son Hunter and his children with Kathern, Sophia and Isabella

Virginia Emerson through the eyes of her daughters Cindy and Jeannie-a tribute to our Mom.

Mom’s adulthood had 3 very distinct phases. In the first she was a loving stay-at-home mother raising 2 daughters - us. During this time, Mom supported our father Jim and his career moving six times in 19 years. She opened our family home to foster children in New Jersey and in Maryland. Mom was the greatest mother we could have had and we will always be grateful for her sacrifices and her supporting us in everything we did. During the moves she kept us grounded and provided stability for the family.

Phase 2 began when she got divorced and had to start a life on her own. She was so strong even though she didn’t want to be. Mom realized how hard it was to live on a small amount of money and how hard it was to make a good living with no prior work experience outside of the home. She paid for staying home and taking care of us. In order to reach goals in her new life she went to USF for her Bachelors degree and then on to FSU for her Masters. Mom was so proud of her hard work and we were proud of her.

Activism – Starting in college and for the rest of her life she was an outspoken champion for the rights of women. Mom did this in many ways from marching on Tallahassee for women’s rights to joining not for profit Boards helping women who were abused. She always tried to persuade people to consider the rights of women and the poor. Her grandsons can attest to that. We are so proud of her for this. Mom helped us and others to become strong women.

In the past 5 years Mom unfortunately entered a third phase when the horrible disease of dementia took over. She suffered through losing her memory to falls and broken bones. Through it all she remained kind to everyone and always tried her best. We will remember this as an extremely hard period that we wouldn’t wish on anyone and are glad that Mom has passed on and left the struggle behind.

In looking back on her life we realize again how lucky we were to have her as our Mom. Love, Cindy and Jeannie

Memorial Service will be on Friday April 29th at 11 am at Blount & Curry Funeral Home 3207 West Bearss Ave., Tampa FL 33618. Reception to follow at Jeannie and Chris Holliday’s residence 3156 Brown Brocket Lane, Lutz, FL 33559.

More information available at www.BlountCurryCarrollwood.com.

In lieu of flowers donations accepted through 501(c)(3) Fulfill your Destiny for the benefit of nursing home workers. Checks should be made to Fullfill Your Destiny and sent to Jeannie Holliday at 3156 Brown Brocket Lane, Lutz, FL 33559.