Virginia Goettler
Virginia Ann (Glace) Goettler, 86, of Butler passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home Thursday morning.
Virginia was born March 10, 1933, in Butler. She grew up at the corner of East Pearl and Monroe streets. In her youth, she took care of her bedridden mother throughout her teenage years into her early 20s.
She marched in the Catholic Daughters of America, playing the bugle for the green and white. She was named May Queen for St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, Senior Queen and Most Popular for the Butler High School Class of 1951.
She married her high school sweetheart, Jay Blair Goettler on Feb. 13, 1954. They were married 64 years.
Virginia worked for the Associates and Dr. Earnest Moore for a number of years. But her lifelong ambition was to be a mother, grandmother and great- grandmother. She was amazing at all of those, the most important titles one can hold. She also served as secretary-treasurer of Goettler Distributing, Inc., the family business.
In the past, she participated in the March of Dimes and enjoyed bridge club with her lifelong friends, Joanne Perry, Judy Reese, Marianne Killmeyer and many others. Virginia loved to visit the casinos from Vegas to Salamanca, N.Y., to cruise ships on many seas.
Virginia loved listening to her husband Jay sing, attending his many performances over the years, as well as attending her children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events and dance recitals.
She was a lifelong caregiver to all in her family and loved baby-sitting her grandkids.
Virginia was a compassionate and loving person, who also possessed a sharp mind and a quick wit. She loved to laugh and did often over life’s many ups and downs.
Virginia was an amazing cook and baker and you would be hard-pressed to have two family members name the same dish as their favorite. She was so good at it all. Virginia hosted decades of amazing Christmas Eve, Easter and birthday dinners for her beloved family, as well as dinner on the table at 6 p.m. nightly, seven days a week for her children for 25 years. There were rarely any leftovers.
Virginia possessed a keen eye for style, fashion and decorating and creating beautiful homes for her family that rivaled anything seen in home décor magazines. The first was the family homestead at 940 E. Brady St., the showcase home she helped design on Belmont Road, and the family vacation villa on Hilton Head Island. She never left the house without her hair and nails perfect and “dressed to the nines.”
She led a great life, surrounded by family and friends that loved her. That’s all anyone can wish for.
Virginia is survived by her five children, Daniel and his wife, Tracy (Napelton), Kevin and his wife, Ann (Boltz), Larry, Karen (Young), and Timothy and his husband, Scott Gabriel,
She is also survived by her grandchildren, Matthew and his wife, Kendall, Rachel and her husband, Michael, Katie and her husband, Matthew, Andrew and his wife, Breanna, Emily, Brittany, Patrick, Cullen, Spencer, Grant, Megan and Holly; and her great- grandchildren, Carter and Conner, Madilyn and Lucas, Eliana and Evangeline, and Daniel and Camden; and the rest of her nieces, and nephews, and friends.
Virginia was preceded in death by her husband, Jay, who passed Oct. 9, 2018; her parents, Joseph Glace and Rose (Bresnahan) Glace; one brother, Richard Glace; and one sister, Mary Lou (Glace) Walters.
GOETTLER — Visitation for Virginia Ann (Glace) Goettler, who died Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, will be held from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Geibel Funeral Home, 201 E. Cunningham St., Butler.
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Fidelis Catholic Church, 125 Buttercup Road, Butler.
Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery.
For more information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.geibelfuneralhome.com.
