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Visitation:
10:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at the
First Baptist Church of Lincoln
Service:
11 a.m. March 11th at the church
Funeral home:
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader, Lincoln
Obituary
Virginia Bright, 102, of Lincoln went
to be with the Lord on Thursday, February 27, 2020.
She was born November 7, 1917, the daughter of Carl
E. and Ruby L. (Lyerla) Carriker in rural Irving.
Her father lost his life in the service of his
country when she was an infant and her mother
preceded her in death many years later. She was
raised by her mother in the home of her maternal
grandparents, Edward (Doc) and Nancy Lyerla of rural
Irving.
She attended school in Irving, completing all grades
in the school and graduating from Hilltop High
School in Hillsboro, Illinois in 1935. She continued
her studies at Illinois State Normal University,
graduating in 1939, and she taught 5th and 6th
grades at the Irving School during the 1939-40
school year. She met her future husband, Walter
Bright, at a dance while she was a student at ISNU
and they were married on Sunday, June 23, 1940 at
the Irving Christian Church. He preceded her in
death 2001 after more than 60 years of marriage.
During World War II she taught Morse Code at Scott
Field, but
most of her life was spent as a homemaker. Following
the war,
she and her family lived briefly in Belleville and
later in Bloomington. Her husband then resumed his
career as a high school science teacher, teaching 5
years at Fisher High School and 18 years at
Princeton High School.
Following retirement, she and her husband moved to
Lincoln, Illinois to be closer to their daughters.
In recent years she struggled with severely
diminished vision, but
she had a very agile mind and loved the challenge of
word puzzles, continuing to work crosswords with the
help of her daughters until the very end of her
life.
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She also loved music, enjoyed reading
before her vision failed, volunteered in the White
Cross program at First Baptist Church of Princeton,
and was an avid golfer until the age of 79, when she
became the full-time caretaker for her husband, who
was in poor health. She was a woman of deep
spiritual faith and placed her trust in her Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. She was the oldest living
member of her family and of First Baptist Church of
Lincoln, and an inspiration to all who knew her.
Virginia is survived by her
daughters, Helene (Jerry) Bales of Lincoln and Peggy
(Rick, deceased) Weinberg of Champaign; four
grandchildren, Patrick (Melora) Bales of Peotone,
Jeremy Bales of Lincoln, Brent (Rachel) Weinberg of
Peach Tree Corners, Georgia, and Lindsay (Brian)
Buchalski of Bolingbrook; six great-grandchildren,
Dylan Bales of Peotone, Grace, Samuel, Eve, and Anna
Weinberg, all of Peach Tree Corners, Georgia, Jordan
and Chase Buchalski of Bolingbrook. She is also
survived by her beloved cousin Nancy Spinner of
Hillsboro.
Visitation will be held at the First Baptist Church
of Lincoln (101
Broadway) at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 11 with
the memorial service to follow at 11:00 a.m. Burial
will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Bloomington.
Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of
Lincoln, which
was a source of great comfort and support.
The family wishes to express its gratitude to Rev.
Ray Pepple and George Shaub for their frequent
visits, faithfulness and and administration of Holy
Communion. A heartfelt thank you also to the patient
and caring staff of Timber Creek Village, which was
her home for the last five years of her life.
Click here to send a note of condolence to the family of Virginia
Bright |
