Virginia Del Grande

Virginia celebrated her 95th birthday on August 31st at her residence in Eureka with her family and friends. She passed away on September 4, 2019.

Virginia was born in Scotia to Shirley Showers Cloney and Mary Agnes Canty Cloney and was one of four siblings a sister - Frances Cloney Wahlund (Mickey), and two brothers - Shirley Bud Cloney (Sally) and Daniel Terrence Cloney.

She attended Scotia Elementary School and graduated from Fortuna High School in 1942. In the fall of that year, she enrolled at Humboldt State College where she met her husband to be, Carl Albert Del Grande. They were married in Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1943 and shared a 53 year marriage until Carl passed in 1996.

Carl and Virginia had three children: Carl Louis Del Grande (Kathleen), Ann Lough, and Donald Del Grande. She has seven grand children - Colleen Devine (Steve), Jenifer Paradissis Del Grande (Chris), Sara DeDeo, Melissa DeWolf, Tawnya Ashby (Brian), Donny Del Grande, and Denver Matthew Lough (Mary) and sixteen great grand children.

Virginia had many callings during her life. She worked as a waitress at the Scotia Inn, a bank teller for B of A, a bookkeeper for Del Grande’s Texaco Service Station, and an instructional aide at St. Bernard’s Elementary School assisting her favorite kindergarten teacher- Sister Monica. However, she will be most remembered as the Co-Owner of “The Shanty Tavern!” Together, Carl and Virginia operated one of the best bars in Northern California for almost 50 years!

She was a devout member of the St. Bernard Parish and served on several church committees. She was very involved in her children’s education and served as a room mother and classroom volunteer, as well as, belonging to the Mother’s Guild and the Catholic Daughter’s Organization. Virginia also volunteered at St Joseph Hospital as a “Pink Lady” and at Frye’s Care Home, where she assisted with Bingo every Thursday.

She was an avid fan of the San Francisco Giants, (She and Carl sponsored numerous bus trips and outings to Giant’s games), HSU Lumberjack football, St. Bernard High School Athletics, and the Horse Races at the Humboldt County Fair.

There will be a memorial mass, led by her cousin, Father Michael Cloney, on Saturday, September 14, 2019, at 2 p.m. at the St. Bernard’s Church followed by a Celebration of a Life Well Lived at the St. Bernard High School Auditorium at 3 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Virginia are encouraged to make a contribution to the St. Bernard Academy Scholarship Fund, 222 Dollison Street, Eureka.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Virginia Del Grande’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

Obituary originally published in the Lost Cost Outpost