York, Virginia Austin, 88, of Clermont, Florida passed away on September 21, 2014 at the Mike Conley Hospice House in Clermont. Virginia was born in Deer Head Cove, DeKalb County, Alabama on December 21, 1925 to the late William Jefferson and Edwina Murphy Austin. She moved to Florida in 1946, after marrying John C York. Commuting to Lakeland during 1952-1954 she attended Florida Southern College, earning her BS degree in Elementary Education. Virginia began her teaching career at Clermont Elementary and continued teaching in Florida, then Alabama, until she retired as a librarian. During those teaching years, she spent many summers working on earning her Bachelor degree in Home Economics and continuing her education to earn her Masters Degree in Library Science from Auburn University. Virginia had a love of books and reading. Her extensive home library gave her the opportunity to "check out" books to her friends in town. Family road trips were taken every summer to eventually all 50 states and even Europe. The family once drove from Clermont all the way to Fairbanks, Alaska, to see the midnight baseball game played with no lights on the longest day of the year ?and back! She loved social studies and sharing souvenirs from her travels with her students. Later on in her life, she continued to travel often visiting every continent, save Antarctica! Traveling to conventions for her various interests, including Garden Club, library, FHA, GA's, etc. is also something she greatly enjoyed. Virginia was always ready to go! When home Virginia enjoyed growing flowers of all varieties and was an active member of Clermont Garden Club for many years, since 1954. She had a green thumb and a talent for flower arranging, growing delicious vegetables in her garden, rooting new plants and she loved to dig. In 1973 Virginia moved back to her family's homestead in Flat Rock, Alabama. She enjoyed growing tulips, picking blackberries, canning jam and vegetables, fishing for catfish in her huge ponds, watching for hummingbirds and fireflies from her porch swing, taking her grandchildren from Clermont to stage plays at a nearby Playhouse and having family gatherings in her home. She loved when her granddaughters visited and enjoyed buying them frilly dresses. When Virginia visited them in Clermont, she enjoyed taking them to Disney, where her son, Tommy worked-- her favorite part was Epcot Center. Virginia moved back to Clermont in 1996 returning to regular attendance at the First Baptist Church where she had previously been a member for many years. She joined the Quilting Club and would sew her beautiful, tiny meticulous stitches all day long to create wonderful hand pieced quilts. This artistic skill was learned as a child from her mother and she continued quilting until her final days. She also enjoyed collecting postage stamps throughout her life. She is survived by her daughter, Judy (Dan) Michele, her son John T. York, her brother, Dan (Evelyn) Austin, sister in law Mary Sue Austin and eight nieces and nephews. She has two granddaughters, Lisa (Jonathan) Ward, Amy (Jamie) Thurston, and 5 great grandchildren, Isabella, Sophia and Nathan Ward, and Hayley Gray and Tucker Thurston. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Mike Conley Hospice House 2100 Oakley Seaver Road, Clermont, Florida 34711.



Service will held Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 11:00 AM in the chapel of Becker Funeral Home. The family will receive friends for one hour prior to service.