Age 93, passed away Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at Jackson Countryside Care Center, with her children at her side. She was born December 2, 1921 in Chelsea, Michigan, the daughter of J. Vincent and Mary (Spirnagle) Burg. Virginia graduated from Chelsea High School in 1939 and married her high school sweetheart Duane Rowe on April 14, 1941 at St. Mary Catholic Church.
She began her work career as a short order cook at her father’s pharmacy, Burg’s Corner Drug Store, as a teenager. In the early fifties, she started working at the Chelsea Spring Plant. She was a camp cook at the Mill Lake outdoor center in the mid-fifties and also managed the small diner in the Sylvan hotel. In the summer of 1958 and 59 she ran the Chelsea Dairy Queen which was owned by her father. In the sixties, she decided to learn to play the organ, and so impressed the store owner that he hired her to manage the Nalli Music Store in Chelsea for many years. She and Duane also had a working farm while raising their four children. Virginia was fortunate to be able to retire to Florida with Duane in her early sixties and they spent over twenty years as proud owners at Saddlebag Lake Resort in Lake Wales, Florida, where they made many friends. The last couple of years of her life she was very well cared for by the staff at Countryside Care Center in Jackson. She was also very fortunate to have a very close family, including her siblings.
Survivors include her husband, Duane; her sons, David (Joanne) Rowe, Douglas (Shirley) Rowe; her daughter, Lowene (Jeff) Hughes; son-in-law Ron Lorenzen, all of Grass Lake; a brother, Vince (Shirley) Burg; a sister, Pat Burg Dietz; eight grandchildren, Daniel, John, Darin, Patrick, Kurt, Kelly, Rodney, Dwana; many great grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; and many loving nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Jeannene Lorenzen in December, 2014; four sisters, Mary Jane Lanning, Louise Guirey, Angeline Foster and Gretchen Spaulding.
A Funeral Mass will be held Saturday, May 23, at 11a.m. at St. Mary Catholic Church, Chelsea. Family will receive friends at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of service. Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Waterloo, Michigan. Memorial contributions may be made to Waterloo Natural History Association, St. Louis Center of Chelsea or St. Mary Catholic Church, Chelsea. Arrangements by Cole Funeral Chapel.
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