Virginia K. "Tootie" Stevens

Virginia K. “Tootie” Stevens 77 of Stoneycreek Road, Fishertown, passed away on January 14, 2016 at Donahoe Manor Nursing Home, in Bedford.  She had battled bladder cancer since early 2015.  She was born on November 30, 1938, in Johnstown, a daughter of the late Janet and J. Ralph Mickle of Schellsburg.  On April 16, 1960 she married her husband of 48 years, Master Chief Curtis A. Stevens, USN (ret.), who preceded her in death on July 22, 2008.  Tootie is survived by her son, Captain Curtis R. Stevens, USN (ret.), of Hershey.

Tootie grew up in Schellsburg and was a 1956 graduate of Chestnut Ridge High School—the first class to graduate from the then newly constructed high school.  After secretarial course work at Cambria Rowe Business College in Johnstown, she served as a Navy Department secretary in Washington, DC from 1958-1960.  She met her husband Curtis in Washington while working at the Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks.  She was a happy Navy wife and mother for nearly 50 years.  As a Navy wife she lived in Washington, Italy and Norfolk prior to returning to Bedford County upon her husband’s Navy retirement.  As a Navy mother she visited San Francisco, San Diego, Honolulu, Boston and Washington, DC, numerous times.  She enjoyed the company of friends, shopping and reading.  She took great joy in maintaining an immaculate home and tending to numerous plants, both inside and out.  She was tech savvy, using both an iPhone and MacBook Air and adept with GPS and satellite radio.

A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, January 18, 2016, at 12:00 p.m., in the Chapel at the Timothy A. Berkebile Funeral Home, in Bedford with Rev. Daniel Oldham officiating. Friends will be received on Monday from 10:00 a.m., until the hour of the service at the funeral home.  Internment will be next to her husband at Arlington National Cemetery, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 1:00 p.m.  In death, Tootie and Curtis are reunited near the location where they first met in 1959.  Temporary buildings from World War Two, including one where she met her husband, once stood near the section of Arlington National Cemetery where she will join her husband.

In the last months of her life, Tootie was grateful for the caring staff at Donahoe Manor Nursing Home and Grane Hospice Care.  In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (www.bcan.org) or the Bedford County Humane Society (www.bchsonline.org).  Our online guestbook is available at www.berkebilefuneralhome.com