Obituary of Virginia White

Virginia "Ginny" Gilbert Arbuckle White of State College died peacefully with her family around her at the Fairways at Brookline on March 9, 2013 at age 86. She was born March 4, 1927 in Erie to George Rudolph Gilbert and Florence Comfort Gilbert. Virginia graduated from Pottsville High School in 1945 and received a BA in Arts and Letters from Penn State in 1949, where she was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority, Campus Center Club and Sociology Club. Although Homemaking was her favorite vocation, she also showed her talents in her work as a teacher at the Erie Day School, and as a long-term substitute teacher in elementary and special education in Blairsville PA and State College. She was also an organist for many years at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Blairsville PA. Virginia loved reading, music, travel, photography and collecting. She embraced technological advancements in her lifetime, mastering her use of email and internet, especially for keeping in touch with her out-of-town friends and family. She valued her membership in the Order of the Eastern Star and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She loved spending time with her children, their spouses, and her grandchildren, and was looking forward to the birth of her first great-grandchild, expected in the summer of 2013. Ginny was predeceased by her husbands Donald E. Arbuckle (2003) and S. Douglass White (1991). Surviving are son Douglas Gilbert Arbuckle (State College PA) and dog Coco, daughter Nancy Kelsey Hostetler and husband N. Douglas Hostetler (Ellicott City MD), daughter Susan Elizabeth Niezelski and husband Michael E. Niezelski (Ellicott City MD), stepdaughter Karen E. Henry and husband Don Henry (State College), stepson Bogar White and wife Kathryn White (Bellefonte PA); also grandchildren Matthew D. Hostetler and wife Emily F. Hostetler (Cambridge MA), Laura Ashbrook Burke and husband Jeremiah Burke (Fairfax VA), Benjamin J. Hostetler and wife Kaitlyn B. Hostetler (Laurel MD), Daniel N. Hostetler (Ellicott City MD), Sarah E. Niezelski, David M. Niezelski and Daniel A. Niezelski (Ellicott City MD); also step-grandchildren Tina E. Beall and husband Bo Beall (Martinsburg WV), Matt J. Henry (Calgary, Canada), Greg White and wife Wilma White (Newport PA), Douglass White (State College), and Lance White and wife Heather White (Bellefonte PA). The family would like to thank Home Instead, the Fairways Staff, and the Home Nursing Agency Hospice, and also express deepest gratitude to Karen Henry, Rita Comly and Pauline Spotts, and others whose help and sympathetic understanding will not be forgotten. The family invites you to a "Blue & White Reception" celebrating Virginia's life on Saturday, March 30th from 3:00-5:00 pm, including a time of remembrances at 4:00 pm, at the Penn State Room in the Nittany Lion Inn, 200 West Park Avenue, State College, PA 16803. Complimentary parking is available at the adjacent Nittany Deck parking garage. Memorials may be made to the Home Nursing Agency Hospice, at 201 Chestnut Ave, Altoona, PA 16601, or www.homenursingagency.com. Expressions of sympathy are welcomed on the guestbook online at www.kochfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.