Virginia Louise Fellows Dial

1920 - 2017

May 15, 1920 - February 13, 2017
Longtime San Antonio resident Virginia Louise Fellows Dial passed away Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, in Georgetown, TX., at the age of 96. She and her late husband, Burt Chope Dial, were active members of St. Mark's Episcopal Church from 1946 until Chope's death in 1983. Virginia continued to be involved with the Church until moving to Georgetown in 2015.

Virginia was the fifth of six children of Arthur and Cora Fellows, all of whom have also passed away. Born May 15, 1920, in West Allis, Wis., she moved with her family to Lake Forest, Ill., where she attended public schools and played forward on the girls' high school basketball team. She attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., was a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and was graduated in 1942.

She worked briefly for Parsons Advertising Agency before becoming employed in the Chicago office of the U.S. Maritime Commission. There she met Chope, a native of San Antonio and an engineering school graduate of The University of Texas, who was employed by the Commission as an inspector and supervisor of merchant ship construction at the Great Lakes shipyard. Virginia and Chope were married in Chicago in 1944.

The functions of the U.S. Maritime Commission ended with the conclusion of World War II, and the couple moved to San Antonio, where Chope had been born and raised, and where his parents, Burt and Agnes Chope Dial, still resided. Chope embarked on a long career in engineering consulting work, most of it with Southwest Research Institute. The couple raised two sons, Steven Randolph Dial and Gregory Scott Dial, who attended Maverick Elementary School, Longfellow Jr. High School, and Jefferson High School.

Virginia was employed by the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas while the boys were young. She later obtained certification as a library assistant, and was employed in that capacity at San Antonio College. She also was an active member of the Southwest Research Institute staff wives organization, the Hawthorne Garden Club, and the San Antonio Garden Center, and volunteered with the Bluebird Auxiliary of Methodist Hospital.

After her family, her great commitment was to the life of St. Mark's Church, in which she was confirmed in 1946. She was active for more than 50 years in Daughters of the King and Women of St. Mark's, and served as President of the St. Nicholas Guild. She was a fixture at the church's annual Lenten Luncheons, serving as food services director and kitchen chairman.

Virginia is survived by sons and daughters-in-law, Steve and Susan Whitaker Dial of Austin, and Greg and Gina Ginter Dial of Lampasas; grandson, Christopher Dial, of Corpus Christi; granddaughter, Courtney Dial Cagle, and her husband, Chris, of Austin; great-granddaughter, Caroline Cagle; two sisters-in-law; eight nieces and nephews, and their spouses, children, and grandchildren. Her family is grateful for the compassionate care she received from the staff of Autumn Leaves assisted living and memory care center of Georgetown, and Hospice Austin.

Interment is at Mission Burial Park South, with Porter Loring Mortuary. Donations in Virginia's memory may be made to any St. Mark's Episcopal Church fund.

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