Valma Viola Ala Jeffcoat

1919 - 2010

Valma Viola Ala Jeffcoat passed away peacefully of natural causes Thursday, April 22, 2010, in Virginia Beach, Va. She was 90.
Memorial service: A private service will take place in Tampa, Fla. Interment: She will be laid to rest beside her husband in the National Military Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla. Arrangements handled by the Cremation Society of Virginia.
Valma was born Sept. 19, 1919, in Lanesville, Mass., the daughter of John A. and Amelia Kolari Ala, immigrants from Finland. She graduated from Rockport High School in 1937. As a student at Boston University, she majored in child development, and in 1943 withdrew from college to enlist in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, which later became the WACS. She proudly served her country in World War II in North Africa and Italy. In 1945 while stationed in Italy, she met a young paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, then recovering from combat wounds at the Army hospital in Naples. In 1946 she and Harold B. Jeffcoat were married at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lanesville. Hal Jeffcoat went on to play professional baseball for 14 years, 12 in the major leagues as an outfielder and pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. They were married for 61 years until his death in 2007.
Valma was a founding member of the Women in Military Service Memorial and a member of the Women/s Army Corps Auxiliary, Chapter 88, of Tampa, Fla.
Val and Hal, as they were affectionately called by their friends, attended Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Tampa, Fla.
Survivors: Children, Dr. Harold G. Jeffcoat of Fort Worth and retired U.S. Navy Capt. John P. Jeffcoat and Richard B. Jeffcoat, both of Virginia Beach, Va. Valma loved her daughters-in-law, Barrie Jeffcoat and Marie Jeffcoat; grandchildren, Jennifer Marie Morton, James Michael Jeffcoat and Jacqueline Marie Jeffcoat; and great-grandchildren, Julianna Marie Morton and Ava Grace Morton.