Virginia Moore Jarvis

Virginia Moore Jarvis was born October 20, 1917 in Trinidad, CO, where her parents were homesteading. She was the daughter of Mabel (Windmiller) and Roderick Otto Moore. She graduated from Mt. Hope High School in 1934 and received a BA from Southwestern College in 1938. Virginia was a good student, and a hard worker and paid her way through college by working as a secretary to the business manager at Southwestern.

She married two exceptional men.  On June 2, 1940, she married Lovell Stuber on the family farm in Sedgwick, KS. On April 9, 1942, during WWII, Lovell's plane and all on board disappeared on a secret mission to North Africa. On June 30, 1947, Virginia married Laurence Jarvis at Grace United Methodist Church in Winfield. They shared nearly 60 wonderful years together.  He preceded her in death on January 7, 2006. They were each other’s biggest supporter and always loved doing everything together.

Virginia had many passions in her life, her family first, and then athletics, antiques and art. She enjoyed many sports. She starred on her high school basketball team, which went to the national championship in Arkansas her senior year; she was also a high diver and tennis player. In her early 30’she became a very competitive golfer. She was the Women's club champion at Winfield Country Club many, many times. Virginia and Larry purchased a second home in Rio Verde, AZ in the early 1990's, where Virginia played on the Desert Team until age 94. She won her age group in the National Senior Women's Amateur Competition in 1986 and in the U.S. Senior Olympics in 1997. She was an excellent coach and started the junior golf program at Winfield Country Club, including lessons in etiquette and rules, and created a traveling team that played at 8 different country clubs in Kansas and Oklahoma. Many of her students grew up to be champions themselves.

Virginia was a wonderful artist, sketching antique purchases and painting portraits and landscapes, some of which hung in her home.  She was a fine seamstress and made most of Becky’s dress clothes.  She was an excellent businesswoman beginning when that was not the accepted norm. She owned a well-known antique shop that originated in the basement of the family home on 10th St. and grew rapidly into a very successful business at 7th & Main. She was highly imaginative and loved finding treasures at estate sales and auctions. Virginia lived through the depression, the dust bowl, and WWII, all difficult times that left a strong imprint on her character.  Virginia was frugal and known for driving a hard bargain as a businesswoman, but she was also generous and helped many people who were down on their luck. Virginia also was supportive of her community and was a member of numerous organizations, including Entre Nous Book Club and the Presbyterian Church.

Survivors include son, Lovell (Tu) Jarvis and his wife, Marisita, Berkeley, CA; son, Chris Jarvis and his wife, Kathy, of Winfield, KS; and daughter, Becky Long and her husband, Rod Long, also of Winfield; as well as eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; both of her husbands; her brother, Roderick O. Moore Jr.; and her sister, Joan Marilyn Welfelt.

Private graveside services will be held and there will be a come-and-go Celebration of Life reception at Winfield Country Club on Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00 PM for anyone who would like to see family members or share a memory. Visitation will be held from 4-6 P.M. Friday, January 27, 2023, at the Shelley Family Funeral Home of Winfield. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to William Newton Hospital or Winfield Main Street, in the care of Shelley Funeral Home of Winfield.

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