Virginia Working

Virginia May Working, age 91 years, former long-time resident of Spansail Drive in Niles, Michigan died on Friday, November 30, 2012 at Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest, Illinois following a brief illness.

She was born on October 29, 1921 in South Bend, Indiana to Albert and Ruth (Hoover) Grise. She was graduated from South Bend Central High School, and has lived in Niles since 1941. More recently, as her health failed, she moved to Zion, Illinois to be near her daughter.

Virginia had been a member of the former Westminster Presbyterian Church in Niles, and was currently a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Niles. She loved flowers, cultivating and tending a beautiful rose garden at her home in Niles. She was an avid reader and Scrabble player, and loved completing crossword puzzles. She was also an accomplished seamstress, making clothing for her daughter, granddaughters and great-granddaughters, and their dolls. She was most proud of making the wedding gown for her daughter. Virginia’s greatest joy was caring for her family.

On February 10, 1940 in South Bend she married Franklin O. Working with whom she celebrated the sixty-fifth anniversary of their wedding prior to his death on February 19, 2005. They were also preceded in death by two of their sons James Working on October 12, 1991 and Jack Working on September 9, 1997; and by Virginia’s brother, Kenneth Grise.

Surviving family includes their children, Kenneth (& Mary) Working of Niles and Carrol (& Stan) Stovold of Lake Bluff, Illinois; two granddaughters, Kristie (& Brian) Middleton and Katie Stovold, and great-grandchildren, Megan Serra, and Max Lutzen; and Virginia’s siblings, Eleanor Wilson and Leona McClanahan, both of South Bend, Mildred Gilliland of Mesa, Arizona, and Harlow Grise of Mishawaka, Indiana; and many nieces and nephews.

Services for Virginia Working will be at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 8, 2012 at the First Presbyterian Church in Niles with the Rev. Fran Lane-Lawrence of First Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Barbara Wirt of Sunnyside Presbyterian Church of South Bend officiating. The family will receive relatives and friends beginning at 1:00 p.m. Saturday at the church.

Contributions in memory of Virginia Working may be made to Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter, 2050 Claire Court, Glenview, Illinois, 60025; or to Hospice at Home, a Lakeland Healthcare Affiliate, 4025 Health Park Lane, Saint Joseph, Michigan, 49085.

Arrangements were made at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles.