Weatherby, Missouri…Virginia Mae Harms, age 97, was called home by her Lord and Savior on January 23, 2024. She was born May 16, 1926, in Hamilton, Missouri, the daughter of William Bryan and Plina Elizabeth (Whiteaker) Stephenson.
Virginia graduated from the Kidder school and upon graduating, taught school there for a brief time. She married the love of her life, Wesley Alvin Harms on May 16, 1944, and to this union three children were born. They loved to hold each other’s hand and did so throughout their 78 years they spent together, even if that meant reaching across their beds in the nursing home to find the other’s hand.
She was famous for her homemade beef and noodles. She even had a special pot she used to cook them in due to the large quantity she would cook at a time, to assure she had enough to send leftovers home with family when they left. Aside from her beef and noodles, she made a delicious pie crust.
Virginia enjoyed being outside tending to her flowers and garden. She loved reading and in fact, her basement was full of books she had collected and read over the years. She and Wesley enjoyed square-dancing and traveling together. They visited every state except Alaska and Hawaii and even traveled to several places abroad including Australia, England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Above all, she loved her family dearly and they meant everything to her.
She is preceded in death by her parents; husband, Wesley; sisters, Madeline Miller and Vivian Curtis; brothers, Max and Paul Stephenson.
She is survived by her children, Hazel (Russell) Newby, Smithville, MO., Judy (Ron) Cobb, Platte City, MO, Lynn (Sheryl) Harms, Weatherby, MO; sister-in-law, Mary Elizabeth Matteson; 7 grandchildren; 9 great-grandchildren; and a host of family and friends.
Visitation will be from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. with funeral services beginning at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 27, 2024, at Turner Family Funeral Home in Maysville, with burial immediately following at Hopewell Baptist Church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hopewell Baptist Church or Hopewell Cemetery.
