Virgie Jewel Pate
b. 13 June 1900, Fort Ritner, Lawrence County, Indiana, to Rev. Virgil and Clara Isis (Allen) Pate
d. 25 November 1987, Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois
m/1.
Alva Dow Cooksey
b. 30 July 1899, Atkinsonville, Owen County, Indiana, to Samuel Lewis and Mary Cynthia (Criss) Cooksey
d. 25 November 1938, Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois
m/2.
William Arthur Musk
Children with Alva Dow Cooksey:
- Clara Cynthia (1919-1961) married Elmer O. Long
- Geneva Darlene (1922-1984) married Charles Raymond Cade
- Margaret Evelyn (1925-1979) married Albert Elvin Crothers
- Dorothy Fern (1928-2003) married Charles Wayne Cox
- Dow Junior (b. 1930)
- Hubert Paul (twin, 1934-1956)
- Hugh Pate (twin, 1934-1934)
Children with William Arthur Musk:
- Arthur Jyrone (1944-2007) married Penny Ann Edwards
Virgie was a descendant of the very first settlers of Lawrence County, Indiana – the Flinns, Guthries, Williams, Allens, and Plummers. She moved with per parents in 1915 to Newman, Douglas County, Illinois. Virgie and her husband, Alva Dow Cooksey, moved to Hoopeston Illinois in 1935.
Virgie was a homemaker and loving mother. Her husband died at age 39, leaving Virgie with five children still at home. She was a housekeeper in a hotel in Hoopeston to support her family, did sewing for others, always planting a huge garden and canning for winter. Every night she would read to her children and many of the neighborhood children. Her life was centered on her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She was a faithful member of the Methodist Church, the denomination of her preacher father.
Submitted by:
Dow Junior Cooksey
Danville IL
E-mail: dcooksey@insightbb.com
Once a Hoosier...Always a Hoosier 