Virginia "Ginger" Sloane Willett was born July 12, 1922, in Mt. Claire, NE. She was the second child of John Sloane and Minnie Dillman Sloane, and was named for her mother's childhood home, Ceres Virginia. She passed away on August 23, 2012 in superior, Nebraska. Ginger's life overflowed with joy for her home, her family, her friends, her faith, and her husband of 70 years.

Ginger managed to create and nurture joy around her despite many losses over the years. At the tender age of just 15 she lost her mother to cancer, and with her older sister already grown, she was left to raise her two younger brothers, Max and Jack, who were just eleven and seven at the time.

In 1942, at the age of 20, Ginger married Samuel Wilson Willett II, of Bostwick, NE. Within a year, Ginger and Sam welcomed their first child, Richard "Dick" Lee Willett. Just four weeks after Dick's birth, Ginger lost her father to cancer, and Ginger and Sam suddenly had three boys to take care of with Ginger's brothers.

Over the following years, Ginger and Sam continued to build their family, including Dick, and then Donald Eugene in 1947, Pennie Elaine in 1949, Mitzie Marlene in 1951, Cindy Sue in 1957, and James Earl in 1961.
During those early years when the children were young, Sam worked as an over-the-road truck driver and Ginger took care of their home and six young children during his long absences.

In 1961 tragedy struck again. Eldest son Dick was killed suddenly in an auto-train collision when he was just 18. Despite so much tragedy early in life, and now losing one of her children, Ginger consistently turned her grief into compassion. She took great care with her children, and her brothers, and her home and garden. But her greatest comfort came from her Christian faith.

Always being a worker, Ginger worked odd jobs over the years with her exuberant energy. Every November she earned money cleaning pheasants and freezing them for hunters who came in from around the region. She also worked at the local Safeway, and occasionally at the Dime Store during busy seasons. Ginger's joy was in working hard; it wasn't hard work to her, it was her life.

Ginger also greatly enjoyed working in her garden, a lifelong passion that began at the knee of her mother. Rhubarb, hollihocks, cherry trees . . . she could make anything grow. She would often say she was afraid of the cows but loved the garden. Her favorites included lilac, iris, peonies, daisies and petunias . . . and plenty of vegetables: radishes, tomatoes, onions, green beans, and cucumbers, for her famous pickles. Whenever driving, she would scour the landscape for blossoms indicating wild plums and chokecherries, stopping for impromptu gathering of wild fruit for jams. Ginger's children say the pressure cooker seemed to always be rattling.

Living in "tornado alley," Ginger often found herself in the cellar with the kids. She was always very calm, and had prepared the cellar with jars of water. She would grab her children, her cash, and her last photo of Dick.

Ginger's strong Christian faith never wavered over the years. A member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Beulah, the oldest four children were baptized there. In the early 1950's the church was moved to Superior, and Ginger was a devoted member, considering her church friends her extended family. She was the last surviving member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, as the church closed and the Free Evangelical Church now occupies the building.

Over the years Ginger cared for not only her own family, but countless members of the community, whether daily visits to homebound friends, neighbors with no family, distant relatives who were childless or widowed, and finally her brother Jack who suffered a debilitating stroke and depended on Ginger's daily visits as his only recognizable connection to the world.

In July of 2005, Ginger's second oldest son, Don, succumbed to cancer after a lengthy battle. He is buried at Buelah Cemetary, where Ginger's family members are buried, and where year over year she cared for graves and oversaw cemetery maintenance on behalf of the family.

All Ginger ever wanted was for her children and those she loved to be happy and content. Each morning before the sun rose, coffee cup in hand, she wrote long-hand letters to friends and family near and far. Her lengthy, conversational letters became legend, in a day when hand-written messages were rare. Ginger loved five things most: her home and garden, her friends, her church, her children and family, and her husband, Sam. Just last week she told her daughter she loved Sam that day as much as the day she married him.

She believed fervently, without a doubt, in life everlasting, and Heaven, where she is certainly sitting today, perusing seed catalogs, humming and whistling, tending her garden, and smiling down on the many, many souls she loved and nurtured.

Ginger was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, and two of her six children.

Ginger is survived by her husband, Sam, daughter-in-law Ann Willett of Superior (wife of Don), daughters Pennie and husband Bob Timberlake of Kansas City, daughter Mitzie and husband Monty Wikerson of Kansas City, daughter Cindy of Superior, and son Jim and wife Dana of Longmont, Colorado. Grandchildren include Audra and Jeff Haskins, Darren and Tiffany Willett, Emily and Monte Kirchhoff, Sarah Timberlake Vier, Eden Shuck, Brody Shuck and Jenn Sundquist, Virginia Lee Perez, Katherine and Brian Moffett, Samuel Wilson Willett III, and Benjamin Willett. Great grandchildren include Tanner, William, Sloan, Sydney, Donnie, Dereck, Riedar, Liam, Elin and Asher.

Services at: Megrue-Price Funeral Home, Superior, Nebraska

Time of Service: Saturday, August 25, 2012 at 3:00 pm

Clergy: Pastor David Johnson, and Pastor Darren Willett

Burial: Evergreen Cemetery, Superior, Nebraska

Memorials to: Beulah Cemetery

Visitation: Friday 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM and Saturday 9:00 AM until services

Funeral Home: Megrue-Price Funeral Home, 750 N Commercial, Superior, Nebraska 68978 Phone 402-879-3900