Virginia Lee “Ginny” Humes, 78, died Nov. 6, 2007, of emphysema at Mary Conrad Center in Anchorage.

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Nov. 12 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1201 Bogard Road, Wasilla.

Humes was born July 16, 1929, in San Francisco and came to Alaska in the late 1940s, living in Fairbanks, Valdez, Juneau, Anchorage, Cordova and Wasilla. She was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Cordova and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wasilla, and she enjoyed birdwatching, sewing and genealogy. Humes loved the outdoors. In her younger years she was an avid sport fisherman, and birdwatching was probably her favorite pastime. She enjoyed the coming of the geese in the spring and was always excited to see the first birds of the season. The Cordova Shorebird festival was her favorite event.

Humes is survived by daughters, P.J. Roberts of  Dumfries, Va., and Andrea (Russ) Flanagan of Sterling.; grandchildren, Timayn (James) Stafford of Enterprise, Ala., Arissa (Josh) Pearson of Dumfries, Va., and McGerra Taggart and Ira Beck of Sterling.; great-granddaughters, Naomi and Trinity Stafford of Enterprise, Ala..; great-grandsons, Isaiah and Brandon Stafford of Enterprise, Ala., and Levi and Noah Pearson of Dumfries, Va. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ethel Church and Howard Andresen, and grandmother Irene Kelly.

Hume’s ashes will be interred at Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery in Wasilla.

Valley Funeral Homes and Crematory of Wasilla and Palmer assisted the family.