Virginia A. Herrera

It is with deep sorrow and much love that we mourn the passing of Virginia A. Herrera on Friday, January 12, 2024, at the age of 85 years.  Virginia was a loving and caring woman, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.  

Virginia is survived by her loving husband of 64 years, Louis Sr.; children: Louis Jr. (Cara) and Maria; grandchildren: Anna, Johnathan, Amy, Thomas and Haley; great grandchildren: Cruzito, Xavier, Christina, Jeremiah and Jacob; sisters: Mary Louise, Georgia and Audrey; sisters-in-law: Chris, Collette, Priscilla, Viola, Gloria, Virginia (Sonny), Martha, Irene and Gloria Keahbone; brothers-in-law: Ray (Dolores); and many nieces and nephews.

Virginia was predeceased by her parents Justo and Josefita Lucero; sisters: Flora, Carmen, Louise, Dolores and Sadie; brothers: Ramon, Joe and Tony; brothers-in-law: Jake, Charles and William. 

Virginia was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1938.  Virginia was the Santa Fe Fiesta Princess in 1958, and married Louis Sr. in 1959. Beginning in 1966 Virginia and Louis Sr. moved for his civil engineering job ten times throughout the United States (North, South, East and West) and internationally. During those moves, Virginia was a born organizer while raising two children and volunteering with school events, church events, cub scouts, ballet and organizations like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. While in Memphis, Virginia decided to pursue her life-long dream of going to college and she began taking classes at Memphis State University in her late 30’s.  Virginia continued working on her college degree through two subsequent moves from Memphis and at the age of 45 she graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas.  She then began a career that eventually focused on childcare advocacy in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was named to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Childcare Resource & Referral Agencies, and made a presentation in Washington, D.C. at a national childcare summit.  Virginia loved spending time with her grandchildren, whether baking cookies and cakes, decorating at Christmas, or reading to them when they were little.  After retirement and later successfully battling breast cancer, Virginia survived a massive stroke in 2010 that she fought valiantly against for 13+ years, which allowed her to celebrate her 60th wedding anniversary and spend quality time with family and friends.  

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, April 5, 2024, at 1:00 pm EST at St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Church located at 4633 Shiloh Road, Cumming, Georgia 30040, with a reception to follow at the Church.  In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that a donation be made in Virginia’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,either by mail to ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis TN 38105, or online at https://www.stjude.org/.  

Ingram Funeral Home, 210 Ingram Ave, Cumming, GA is in charge of arrangements.