Virginia Anne "Ginnie" Copeland

Virginia Anne "Ginnie" Copeland, 84, of Missoula peacefully passed away Thursday, May 2, 2019, of natural causes.

Virginia was the second born of five children to Sophie and Albert Lee in Lexington, Massachusetts, on July 26, 1934. Her parents and siblings have preceded her in death. In high school she loved playing as a member of the girls’ basketball team. On September 26, 1953, she married her handsome U.S. Marine from Bethel, North Carolina. Bernie preceded her in death in 2002. They had five children through their journey in life from Massachusetts to Florida and finally the most lived years in Missoula and Libby, Montana. She was a loving wife and devoted mother who stayed home to raise her babies. She would help Bernie with transcription typing in his occupation of stenographer.

Known to all her friends as "Ginnie," she loved bowling, finishing crossword puzzles, reading and writing, golfing, walking, and collecting interesting rocks and sea shells in her travels. She loved her candy M&Ms, fanciful clouds, leaning trees, feeding the little birds and critters, and collecting teddy bears. She always had a kind word or struck up a conversation to any stranger she met. And always had her camera in hand. She loved the color purple, lilacs and roses, and most devoted to her heavenly Mother in praying the Rosary. Ginnie and Bernie, after retirement, did a lot of traveling here in the U.S. and abroad.

Survivors include her daughters, Carol Anne (Joe) Riemann, Florence, Montana; Laura Mamuzich, West Glacier, Montana; Rhonda Copeland (Theresa Whiteside), Missoula, Montana; son Richard (Kim) Copeland, Sedona, Arizona. Her youngest son preceded her in death in 2018, Ronald (Kelly) Copeland, Billings, Montana.

Services will be held for Virginia at Garden City Funeral Home at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. Father Ed Hislop will officiate. Placement of Ginnie and Bernie’s urns will take place at Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery at 3:00 pm.