VIRGINIA BLANCHE WRIGHT

VIRGINIA BLANCHE WRIGHT Virginia Blanche Wright was born August 22, 1924, in Riverside, California, the second child of Clifford Charles and Blanche Matilda Shepherd Wright. Her father was a house painter. Virginia became acquainted with pain at an early age. When she was three, her dress caught fire on the exposed flame of a water heater, leaving her with second- and third- degree burns all over her body. When she was seven, she was in a car accident in Utah. The car rolled, and she was left with a permanently damaged thyroid gland. Virginia attended Central Junior High, Poly High, and Riverside City College (then Riverside Junior College). She also attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, for a year. Virginia met Gordon Bradford, a scientist at UCR, and they were married on October 24, 1949, in the Mesa, Arizona Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They became the parents of seven children. Virginia also mothered children who weren't her own. Virginia was a life-long resident of Riverside and life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a young adult, she served a mission for her church to the Southern States, teaching in Florida and South Carolina. Throughout her life, she served in many other church callings, including as Relief Society president. She read extensively about church history and doctrine. Virginia's older brother, Wally, was mentally handicapped. As a child, Virginia protected him from playground bullies, and after her mother died, she took care of him until he passed away for 34 years. Virginia loved to play the piano and was called to serve as a pianist and organist in her church. In her younger years, she also enjoyed genealogical research. In her later years, she enjoyed playing Scrabble, doing cross-word puzzles, and watching Jeopardy on TV. Virginia passed away August 10, 2019, twelve days short of her 95th birthday. Her brothers, Wallace and Ronald Wright, and her husband, Gordon Bradford, preceded her in death. She is survived by her sister Evona; children Sandra (Dennis), Dennis, Connie, Karen (Craig), Brian (Anca), Scott (Simone), and Paul (Julie); 33 grandchildren; and 40 great-grandchildren. She will be remembered as a devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. Funeral services will be held on her birthday, Thursday, August 22, 2019, at 10:00 am at the church at 181 East Blaine Street in Riverside. Interment will be at Riverside National Cemetery on the same day.