Virginia Jean Gazewood died of natural causes at the age of 87 on Sunday, July 21, 2024, surrounded by family at the Kadlec Hospital in Richland, Washington. She had been a resident at Ciel (Grand Ridge) Assisted Living Cente in Kennewick, Washington.
Virginia was born May 27, 1937, in Crow Agency, Montana to Gerald E. Williams, a World War I, U.S. Marine Corps. veteran and civil servant agency boiler house operator and to Mary Jane (Brewer) Williams, a homemaker.
In the early 1940s, her father Gerald began dry land farming on a 160-acre Crow Indian Reservation allotted land located a mile and a half south of Crow Agency and a mile and a quarter northwest of the historic Custer Battlefield National Monument. After World War II and about 1947, Virginia’s Mother Mary Jane as proprietor, established a log cabin style Battlefield souvenir shop which adjoined the family’s home. Gerald also operated an early Mobile gas station at this same junction of the old U.S. Highway 87, Highway 212, and the nearby short road southeast to the Battlefield National Monument. When planning for the construction of Interstate 90 through the Crow Agency area began, the family home, souvenir shop and gas station were removed out of the planned Interstate right-of-way. Her folks later constructed and operated a new cinder block “Mary Jane’s Last Stand” souvenir shop and café and a late 1950s-era Texaco “Star” filing station. This was the Williams Family domain in which Virginia was raised.
As a young girl, Virginia started a life-long passion toward music with her earliest memory at age 4, listening to the NBC Symphony Orchestra on her folk’s floor-standing Montgomery Ward radio at their original Crow Agency worker’s residence. Her parents bought an old upright piano when she was in fourth grade on which she taught herself how to play. In sixth grade she began taking clarinet lessons when the first school band program was started at Crow Agency.
Her father’s mother, Minnie Reed Williams known by the family as Grandma Crow, lived nearby in a tiny house in Crow Agency. Minnie loved helping others, writing, and history, interests that Virginia as a granddaughter absorbed and was influenced by throughout her life. Virginia was an enrolled member of the Crow Indian Tribe.
Riding a school bus first to Crow and then 13 miles to Hardin, Montana, Virginia attended Hardin High School playing in the band, singing chorus, and enjoying art classes. She was the editor of her Senior Class Annual. She graduated in 1954, at age 17. That summer she was a Rodeo Queen Attendant riding her Morgan horse, one of her girlfriends was the Rodeo Queen, another the second attendant.
Immediately after high school, Virginia began working for the Campbell Farming Corporation, which at one time was the largest wheat farm in the world near Hardin. She then worked for Carl Rankin, who surveyed and platted the original town of Hardin, provided title abstract services and served as the mayor. Virginia was then able to obtain a federal general service “GS” position with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Crow Agency. After two years, she was ready to leave the Crow Indian Reservation and see the world.
Virginia attended the University of Montana in Missoula for a semester, majoring in Music. With a part-time job and a limited scholarship, she did not have sufficient funds to pay for further college and returned to work. She was fortunate to gain employment as a typist for Deister, Ward & Witcher (DWW) Oil Abstractor’s regional office in Billings, Montana. DWW provided contract services to oil companies to abstract land record mineral right information from county courthouses across 20 states. During the mid-1950s, DWW used title abstractors backed by crews of typists to painstakingly retype copies of original courthouse documents. Virginia’s work took her to county courthouses in eastern Montana and western North Dakota. She became an excellent typist capable of transcribing 140 words per minute on manual typewriters used at that time. With good pay and financial incentives, she was able to buy her first car, a used, white Buick convertible with a red interior.
Montana and North Dakota winter weather required Virginia to trade her first car for a more practical one, a white Oldsmobile two door hardtop with a very good heater. While on the way to work in Watford City, North Dakota, she visited her older brother and family in Glendive, Montana, where she met her future husband, Jim Gazewood. Jim worked for Henry Geist Drilling Company as a roughneck with Virginia’s older brother Jerry Williams.
Virginia married James Gazewood on April 19, 1958, at the St. James Catholic Church in Glendive, Montana. Alex and Ann Maser (later from Rock Springs, Wyoming) were best man and maid of honor.
As a young married couple, Jim & Virginia lived in a series of small mobile homes moved to follow her husband’s work. They began to raise a family of five children. James as the first child born in Laramie, Wyoming followed by Michael in Vernal, Utah, and Patrick in Pinedale, Wyoming. Anna was born in Rock Springs and Brian in Casper, Wyoming. Later in life, Virginia would reflect on her and Jim’s early married life living in trailer houses in many places, stating that “We moved our family 18 times in 13 years!”. She was humorously known by her family to have practiced her clarinet on the toilet seat in their trailer house bathrooms allowing her to get the clarinet to sound its best.
Starting in 1974, and for the following three decades, Jim and Virginia raised their family in Rock Springs, Wyoming which included their first grandchildren. The Family flourished in Rock Springs from the great school system and sports programs, outdoor recreation, good friends, and the opportunities available. Virginia worked briefly as a middle school secretary for the Sweetwater County School District No. 1, as a legal secretary for Robert Johnson, a respected local attorney. She then returned to her love of music and began Ginee’s Music Studio, teaching piano and organ students at the family’s Rock Springs home.
For many years, Virginia played Catholic parish organs often at daily, Sunday and special masses at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Casper, St. Cyril & Methodius and Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Churches in Rock Springs, Wyoming. A yearly highlight for her, was to be honorably asked by the parish priest to play the organ during Midnight Mass, celebrated the night of Christmas Eve. On occasion, while on family driving vacations, Virginia would stop at catholic churches, known to her to have large, ornate and beautifully sounding pipe organs and to be allowed by the local parish to briefly play such grand instruments.
Virginia gained the reputation of being an exceptional piano and organ teacher and was sought out by parents and students alike. She became an active member of several music teacher associations including being formally trained and certified to teach piano using Suzuki Method instruction. She once met Dr. Suzuki of Matsumoto, Japan. By this time, Virginia had acquired, was playing and taught students on two Steinway grand pianos. During their high school years, the Gazewood kids would often wake in the early morning to their mother playing a wide variety of classic symphony piano scores by Chopin, Mozart, Bach, and others. In 1995, Virginia was accepted into Brigham Young University’s Masters of Piano program in Provo, Utah thereby enabling her to be formally trained and to perform as a classical pianist in regional competitions.
In 1996, Jim and Virginia built a beautiful retirement home in northwestern Montana overlooking Flathead Lake and the Swan Mountain Range. She continued to teach piano while in retirement. Retirement allowed Virginia more time to enjoy her growing family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Montana and western history, photography, quilt making, pastel and oil painting, as well as expand her lifelong enjoyment of collecting antique glass, furniture and art. For those who knew her, Virginia had an incredible knowledge of and a very “good eye for” fine antiques and historical collectibles.
In 2012, Jim and Virginia established a second retirement home in Kennewick, Washington to be near son Brian and his wife Susan and family. They continued to travel to their Lakeside, Montana home enjoying the best that each location had to offer.
Virginia is survived by her sons and daughter including Jim (Carol) Gazewood, North Ogden, Utah, Pat (Penny) Gazewood, Spring Creek, Nevada, Anna Capell, Billings, Montana, Brian (Susan) Gazewood, Kennewick, Washington and daughter in-law Helen (Mike) Gazewood, Marble Falls, Texas; nine grandchildren including Jim (Andolina) O’Lexey, Billings, Montana, Lacy (Clinton) Nation, Billings, Montana, Lindsey (Wade) Michaelson, Inkom, Idaho, Ross (Nicolle) Capell, Pocatello, Idaho, Matthew Gazewood, Spring Creek, Nevada, Kristina (Eric) Edwards, Kennewick, Washington, Summer (Jonathan) Callender, Ely, Nevada, Jacob and Jaclyn Gazewood, Kennewick, Washington; 25 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Rose (Jerry) Williams, brother Donald (Connie) Williams, Casper, Wyoming, sister Janee (Bob) Webber, Columbus, Montana; as well as other nieces, and nephews as extended family members.
Virginia was preceded in death by her parents; husband Jim of 62-years in marriage; son Mike Gazewood; son-in law Brian Capell; brother Jerry Williams, Casper, Wyoming; and sister Joan Davis, Somerset, South Dakota.
On Thursday, October 10, 2024, a rosary will be conducted at 6 p.m. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 900 Hitching Post Drive, Green River, WY 82935. On Friday, October 11, 2024, a funeral mass will be conducted at 11:30 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church by Father Peter James Kamau. Virginia’s interment including the added interment of her husband Jim, and partial interment of her son Mike will be at the Riverview Cemetery in Green River immediately after the mass. A luncheon will occur at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church’s Community Hall afterwards.
In leu of flowers, the family requests the consideration of financial donations to be made to the Dup15q Alliance located online at www.dup15q.org or by check to the address of 250 N Trade St, Suite 205 PMB 155, Matthews, NC 28105.
