Virginia F. King

ALTON—Virginia F. (Blake) King, 80, died September 17, 2020. She was born February 19, 1940, the second daughter of Frank and Ellen (Blanchard) Blake, (“The best parents on the planet”, she would beam).

In 1957, she met Private First Class James W. King Sr., who was stationed at Limestone Air Force Base. Soon after, she became his proud bride, thus beginning her mission in life as wife and eventually, mother of five. A not-so-small army of friends and loved ones knew Virginia as “Nana King”. Among her many gifts to them was sharing the absolute hilarity of her uproarious laughter and her outrageous talent for cooking and feeding everyone, often until her feet were “killing her”. She will also be remembered for her strong opinions, maybe you agreed, maybe you didn’t, but her opinion was heard. Finally, Lord help you, if you were unkind to any animal, or towards a person less fortunate, while in Virginia’s presence. Her tender heart and beautiful soul would ignite a passion within her and you would hear about it.

She is survived by her husband James King, Sr; three sons James King Jr., Frederick “Ricky” King, Chris King and his companion Heidi; two daughters Teresa Turner and her companion John Sylvia; Stacey Leland and her husband Bud; eight grandchildren; 17 great grandchildren including Laken Ocean who brought immeasurable joy to Virginia’s life as she was always anticipating being together again after each weekly visit with “See you next Wednesday”; she is also survived by brother Frankie Blake and his wife Susan, and sister Francine Mackowski and her husband Bill. She was predeceased by her parents and a dear sister Carol St. Peter.

A private graveside for invited friends and family will be conducted 1PM Saturday September 26, 2020 at St. Joseph Cemetery, Old Town. Virtual attendance will be livestreamed on the Birmingham Funeral Home Facebook page via Facebook Live.