Virginia VanHorn

1938 - 2024

Virginia (Jenkins) Van Horn
03/30/1938 - 12/01/2024
Virginia (Jenkins) Van Horn, a vibrant spirit who lived life to the fullest, died on December 1, 2024, after a brief illness. Born March 30, 1938 in LaFayette, AL, she was the first child of William Harrison and Margaret Payne Jenkins. She spent the next 10 years in South Alabama where she acquired her beautiful Southern accent, which lasted a lifetime. In 1948, she moved with her family to Decatur, AL where she graduated high school in 1956. She attended the University of Alabama, graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Virginia then moved to Houston where she worked at Methodist Hospital, most of that time as head nurse on 6-South in the original U-shaped building. There, she met her future husband, Gage, a senior medical student at Baylor. She married on March 21, 1964, and moved to Chicago with her husband, who was beginning his residency in Neurology at Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital. Our best friends during residency years remarked about her sparkle and no-nonsense language. After enduring a particularly brutal winter in Chicago, the couple with new daughter Margaret moved to Jacksonville in 1967, where Gage fulfilled his Berry Plan obligation at the US Naval Hospital, Jacksonville NAS. Following that, the family moved to Pittsburgh, spending the next 5 years, where Gage began his academic neurology practice at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In 1974, the family relocated to Houston, where Gage became the second neurologist in the Department of Neurology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. Rearing 2 children occupied much of her time the next 20 years, although she found time for bridge, socializing, and attending classical music concerts at the Houston Symphony, Rice, and the University of Houston. In 1993, the empty nest family moved to Bellaire, where Virginia devoted some of her time volunteering with several charitable and arts organizations, including the Moore's Society at the University of Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts Guild, The Salvation Army Auxiliary, and the Houston Symphony League where she was awarded the Ellen Kelley Volunteer of the Year Award in 2004. Virginia also enjoyed reading, playing bridge, entertaining, and traveling. In 2019, she and Gage moved to Tradition Buffalo Speedway, a retirement community. In March 2024, Virginia and Gage celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Virginia was preceded in death by her parents and her brother William H. Jenkins, Jr., and is survived by her husband Gage, daughter Margaret (Houston), son Michael (Cincinnati), sister Annette Jenkins Dean, brother-in-law Walter Dean, and brother George Jenkins, all of Birmingham, and sister-in-law Beth Van Horn Furgerson of Lubbock, along with several nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held in the Great Room of Tradition Buffalo Speedway at 9339 Buffalo Speedway on January 21 at 2:00 PM, preceded by a private interment service at the St. Paul's United Methodist Church Columbarium. Memorial gifts may be made to the American Cancer Society or to the charity of your choice.