LILLIAN VIRGINIA FORTENBERRY

ELLSWORTH – Lillian Virginia Fortenberry, 93, died Aug. 5, 2010, surrounded by family at home. Hers was a long life filled with generosity and love, hard work, handiwork, travel and amazing cooking! Virginia will be remembered as a wonderful mother, sister, aunt and friend. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren will remember Nana as “the best grandmother ever.” The daughter of Henry Dawson and Marion Edna (Loudon) Wicker, she was born June 13, 1917, and grew up in Zachary, La., and Baton Rouge, La. In 1936 she married William Ermmitt “Cuz” Fortenberry. After World War II his career with the U.S. Air Force took them and their two young daughters to many parts of the United States. In the early 1950s Ermmitt was assigned to the Crash Boat Unit in Southwest Harbor, attached to Dow Air Force Base, Bangor. The family fell in love with the coast of Maine. They settled in Southwest Harbor, where Virginia ran and did the cooking at their restaurant, Cuz’s Caf?, for more than a decade, including the difficult period of her husband’s illness and death in the early 1960s. In 1965 Virginia returned to Baton Rouge, La., to live near family. Virginia was a valued employee for H. J. Wilson Co. for more than 20 years, first as a salesperson, and then as a buyer helping to open stores throughout the South as the company expanded. During those years of hard work she still found time to sew and cook for her family. Her homemade southern-style Sunday dinners were the highlight of the week for many family and friends. Throughout the years Virginia took many trips to visit family and friends throughout the world. Her travels took her as far south as Peru and as far east as Japan, with trips to Europe as well. She regularly visited family from Maine to California. Wherever she went she wanted to see it all and do it all, and she always wondered at the different shrubs and flowers in each location. In 1985 she retired and returned to Maine to be nearer her daughters, living first in Bernard, and more recently in Ellsworth. During her retirement she continued to cook, travel and crochet. Her “Nana Booties” were legendary and are being worn on several continents. Only in the last few years did she truly slow down, and though she could no longer cook or crochet for them; family, especially the great-grandchildren, remained her joy and focus. Though it is sad to lose her, Virginia lives on in the hearts of those she leaves behind: her daughter and son-in-law, Virginia Lee and Fred Rich; six grandchildren and their spouses, Bill Rich and wife, Emily, of Friendswood, Texas, Dean Rich and wife, Kristine, of Centreville, Va., Dodie Hamblen and husband, Gerry Lax, of Pennington, N.J., Cheri Sankey and husband, Andrew, of Gouldsboro, Victoria Minutolo and husband, Joe, of Bar Harbor, and Rob Hamblen and wife, Satomi, of Pacifica, Calif.; 12 great-grandchildren; many devoted family members and friends. She was predeceased by her husband, William E. Fortenberry; daughter, Eleanor Fortenberry; grandson, Mark Rich; and her six siblings, Henry Wicker, Ben Wicker, Edna Lee McFerran, Frank Wicker, Robert Wicker and Ruby “Tot” Hogan. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, at Greenoakes Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, La. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Virginia’s memory may be made to Hospice of Hancock County, 14 McKenzie Ave., Ellsworth, ME 04605. A service of Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com.