Yes, I remembered that September 14 was Virginia's birthday.  My birthday is 3 days later and we celebrated many birthdays together.  If I am remembering correctly, September 14 was also the wedding anniversary of her sister, Etta Mae and "Bubba" Busk.  I have such wonderful memories of all three of them.  Virginia and I had several trips to Naples together to visit my granddaughter, Jennifer.  Now that I am living in Naples, I miss her even more.  She would be down here visiting me often!  Another memory that I have of Virginia, Perry, Mac and me is our trip to Alaska in a motor home.  We were gone seven weeks and we laughed through all the miles!  When we returned, we had no secrets!!

Virginia and Perry were not just our neighbors for 30+ years, they were family! They attended our wedding and watched us raise our son Cole, and welcomed our grandchildren. Perry taught Fred how to garden and anytime I couldn’t find him I knew to look in their backyard. When Fred built the addition on their home we had cocktail hour that whole summer, I still make the salmon spread that Virginia served. I can still hear Perry calling “Virginia” and she would come running. Our dog Sammy always slipped over to get treats. I found out years later that Virginia and my mother shared the exact same birthday and year. When we moved to Montana our A/C quit twice in one week, the repairman said there was nothing wrong with it, I think it was Perry trying to sabotage the sale so we wouldn’t leave Virgini. It’s hard to put into words how much we loved them, they will always be in our hearts.  Fred and Barbara Skees

I must send my condolences again to Mrs. Sparkman's family and friends. She had such an impact on so many, so her memory will certainly live on. 

I met her almost three decades ago through her daughter, my continued dear friend, Lynn. I was graciously welcomed by both of Lynn's parents to their vacation beach house. We worked at picking crabs and when finished, we were finally released to go outside to the beach.I could see how important work, good manners, and comraderie were to them. They reminded me of my own parents!

Over the years, I was able to visit and was always struck by what a welcoming, lovely, interested woman Mrs. Sparkman was. It's a great honor to know and honor her, always, with love.