Virginia Gilmore

Anchorage resident Virginia Alice Gilmore died at the age of 94 on May 29, 2010, at Providence Extended Care.

A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 18 at The Chapel By The Sea, 14730 Turnagain Bluff Way, Anchorage, 99515.

She was born April 24, 1916, in Breckinridge, Colo.

Virginia met John I. Gilmore at Fort Collins, Colo., where she earned degrees in economics and teaching. They married in Denver, Colo., in 1941.

John was a veteran of World War II and served in the Army. He was stationed at Fort Wainwright and Fort Richardson. Virginia worked as a schoolteacher at Denali Elementary in Fairbanks and at North Pole Elementary.

John died in 1960. In 1963, Virginia and her children moved to Spokane Valley, Wash., where she taught elementary school and retired in 1981. That same year, Virginia married Robert Murray Enlow and they became snowbirds, traveling between Liberty Lake, Wash., and Scottsdale, Ariz. Bob and Virginia also enjoyed traveling to see their relatives all over the U.S. They traveled to Ireland and England and also took several cruises. Bob died at the age of 100 in 2001.

Virginia is survived by her daughter, Pam Koehler Wight; sons, John Mark Gilmore and Lloyd Gilmore; grandchildren, Kirk Koehler and Kristine Lindblom; great-grandchildren, Nicolas Koehler, Karina Lindblom, Jared Lindblom, Gage Koehler, and Caleb Lindblom. She is also survived by nieces and nephews from the Waters and the Gilmore families.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to one of Virginia's favorite charities: Parachutes (Outreach to at-risk teens in Alaska) at P.O Box 231989, Anchorage, 99523, or SEND International, PO Box 513, Farmington, Mich., 48332, c/o Michelle Gillespie or Phil and Brenda Brey.