Virginia Lea Clarkson

Virginia Lea Clarkson

Virginia Lea Clarkson, 88 passed away March 8, 2014 at the Medicalodge of Frontenac. She was born March 10, 1925 in Pittsburg, Kan., to William and Ida Mae Lewey Kennedy. She was a lifelong area resident, having lived in the Arma and Camp 50 area since the 1950s.

Virginia was a 1942 graduate of Pittsburg High School. She was a longtime employee in the newsroom of the former Pittsburg Headlight and Sun. She also had a radio program on KSEK radio in the 1940s.

Virginia married Allan "Bud" Clarkson on April 1, 1951 at the First Baptist Church of Pittsburg, Kan. He preceded her in death in 1993. In the early 1950s the Clarksons moved to California for a brief period of time and then to Kansas City where she worked for the Kansas City Star and the University of Kansas. They later returned to Mulberry, Kan., while they built a home in Arma, Kan. During the 1960s, she was the acting Post Master for the city of Arma and was on the founding board for the Friendship Villages of Arma. She was later employed as a bookkeeper at Inter-Urban Lumber Company of Arma, True Value in Pittsburg and Pruitt-Daugherty Motor Company in Frontenac. In her retirement years, she was employed at the Pittsburg McDonald's. She was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Pittsburg and the Arma Methodist Church.

Survivors include a daughter, Jo (Gary) Herrmann of Girard, sons Jon Clarkson of Camp 50 and Jamie (Bev) Clarkson of Frontenac. Grandchildren Shelley (Joe) Cooley of Independence, Garth (Kieu) Herrmann of Wichita, Jason Clarkson of Olathe, Jessi Clarkson of Pittsburg, Katherine Troglia of Frontenac and Aaron Troglia of Frontenac. Great grand children are Dylan and Brody Cooley and Ty Herrmann and Baby girl Herrmann due in June.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Claude, Clyde, Pete and Verne "Bub" Kennedy and sisters Elmina "Mina" Fougnie, Wilma Hosman, Doris and Jerusha Kennedy.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday March 12, 2014 at the Bath Naylor Funeral Home in Pittsburg, Kan., with Pastor Steven Cole officiating. Burial will be at the National Cemetery, Fort Scott, Kan. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, 2014, at the Bath Naylor funeral home. Condolences may be left at www.Bathnaylor.com. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer Association or the Pittsburg Public Library; these may be left at or mailed to the funeral home. Arrangements are under the direction of the Bath Naylor Funeral Home 522. S. Broadway, Pittsburg, Kan. 66762.