Funeral Card Friday: Velma Hilda Davis Woodring

Funeral Card Friday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers that asks us to post images of memorial cards and stories about the person memorialized.

My great-aunt Velma Hilda Davis Woodring was my maternal grandfather’s youngest sister.  She was born in Shenandoah, Virginia, in 1908 and died of liver cancer in 1968 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. 
 
Her funeral card is very plain.  In fact, it seems rather homemade.  Here is the cover:

Inside the service is printed on a single piece of paper and attached to the cover with a single staple in the fold.

The 2 ministers who conducted the service are members of the family.  Forrest Racy was married to Velma’s cousin, Leota Sullivan.  Arthur Maiden was married to Velma’s and Leota’s cousin Minnie Coleman.  It must have been an especially emotional service for Arthur since he had married Velma and Woody in 1927 (read about that HERE).

 

The active pallbearers are a real mystery to me, but my cousin recognized some of the names.  James F. Logan, Jr. was a teacher at Waterman Elementary when Velma taught there, and  he was very loyal to her. James O'Donnell was the principal at Waterman and later was promoted to an admininstrator with the Harrisonburg school system.  Joseph Hiner was probably a teacher, but my cousin is not sure.  E.S. Ashby was an educator and a good friend of both Violetta and Velma. Joseph Ziler was a dear friend from Martinsburg. He, his wife, and daughter Mary Jo visited with Velma quite often. My cousin thinks Joe was the principal at the school where Velma taught in Martinsburg, West Virginia.