Virginia Pence Ellis

Pence Ellis, as she was known to her family and friends, passed away peacefully on November 6, 2023, at the age of 91. Pence was a loving wife, mother, and sister who reveled in hard work and generosity of spirit. She was born in Winchester, Kentucky on January 25, 1932, to Paul Henry and Virginia Hancock Farrier.

Pence graduated from Blacksburg High School in 1949 and attended Randolph-Macon Women’s college for one year before transferring to Virginia Tech, where she graduated in 1953 with a degree in General Science. While waiting for her fiancé, Howard Ellis, to finish his double major in Engineering, she worked in her father’s office, the Dean of Admissions at Virginia Tech. After marrying, and ultimately settling in Decatur, Alabama, she became a full-time homemaker and loving mother.

She volunteered in a variety of efforts including making scenery for school plays, sewing costumes for charitable events, sewing children’s dolls for charity fundraisers, and heading up the PTA and the Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She was active in her church, cooking for social events, helping with a remodel of the parsonage, and re-upholstering formal church furniture. From the ground up, she designed the home that she and Howard built in Decatur and lived in for over 50 years. She took great joy personally designing and meticulously creating the home’s landscaping. She loved socializing and had a dry wit.

Pence is survived by a son, Austin and daughter-in-law, SanDee; a daughter, Anne Sweet, and son-in-law, Brad Sweet. She is survived by three grandchildren, Sarah Ellis Webb and her husband Martin Webb, Christie Sweet and John Sweet. She is also survived by her brother, Paul Henry Farrier Jr., several nieces and nephews, and one great-granddaughter.

Pence was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Roy Howard Ellis; her sister, Harriet Farrier Johnson and brother-in-law Harry Johnson; and sister-in-law Evelyn Farrier.

Burial will be in Westview Cemetery in Blacksburg, VA.