Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Her heart was bigger than Mill Mountain," said Louis Timmons, pastor of Highland Park United Methodist Church.
But that kindness may have led to her death. The two men and one woman she let stay in her home are expected to be charged in her beaing death. Green was found dead in the trunk of her car Nov.1.
Slight, with blond hair and a crooked grin, she wasn't the type of person to shy away from people. She would give what little she had to others, friends said. Green often was seen sitting on her porch at 421 Woods Ave. S.W. , her three dogs at her side, as she haggled over selling a piece or two of the furniture that cluttered her foyer.
"She was a lady of elegance in ragged clothing," said son Theodore Green Jr.
When her husband died from stomach cancer two months ago, she grappled with a loss that was often too great to bear, say family members. Grief over her husband's death and bouts with drinking had clouded her judgment, said daughter LeMay Green.
"She was willing to take anybody in, no matter who they seemed to be on the inside," said daughter Trish Green. "Mom was just like that."
Green's children buried their mother next to their father. The grass had barely begun to poke through the dirt at the Rocky Mount grave. The children are left with a $4,000 debt. They have been given about $200 by neighbors.
After Green's death, her daughters discovered - tucked in a desk drawer - a part of their mother they never knew. Hand-scripted in a small, spiral notebook was a series of poems in which she wrote about her husband, her family, her hopes.
In one piece titled "Riches," Virgie Green wrote about what mattered to her throughout her 44 years:
"I looked around at our weathered old shack, and I saw to my delight a stunning fact. A wonderful castle warm and full of love. Riches given to us solely from God in heaven above."
Donations to help pay for Virgie Green's funeral can be sent to Flora Funeral Services, P.O. Box 763, Rocky Mount 24151.
by CNB