Virgie Mack went home to God on November 26, 2024, at the age of 95. Born on May 22, 1929, in Detroit, she lived most of her life in Wayne, in a house on Glenwood Road, across from Uht Funeral Home. She loved to reminisce about Wayne’s thriving business and social community in the 1950s and 1960s.  If you could sum up Virgie’s life in 5 words, they would be laughter, family, faith, community and sewing.  She loved people and people loved her. Even in her final years in the memory care unit at Waltonwood Assisted Living, Virgie was adored for her ever-present smile and laughter.

Virgie met the love of her life, Milton Mack Sr., at Wayne High (which is where Tae Keuk Village Apartments are today) in the late 1940s. She remained involved with her classmates for the rest of her life. Virgie and Milton married in 1948, when Virgie was 19. Together, they raised a family: sons Milton Jr. (with his wife Laura), Robert (and his wife Karen), and daughters Theresa and Marie. The family kept growing, adding grandchildren: Aaron (Audrey) Mack, Carie (Michael) Russell, Adam (Steffanye) Mack, Jared Parker and Doug (Tanya) Redmond; a plethora of great-grandchidren: Tiffany, Amber, Brittany, Bryan, Joshua, Kayla (Dylan), Hannah, Alyse, Sabrina, Danielle, Micah, Jonah, Ashley, Zachary, Nataly, Timothy, Melody, Emiley, Roman, Lana and Jade; and even a great-grandson, Xavier; who all inherited her joyous spirit, and, possibly, her sweet tooth. After Milton’s death in 2017, Virgie continued to fully engage with life. She was ever curious and adventuresome - always ready to try something new, go somewhere new or make a new friend.

Virgie embodied the values of her generation. She was a stay-at-home mother when her children were small, and then worked as a paraprofessional (a brand-new profession at the time) in the Wayne-Westland Community School District when they were more independent.  She was loved by students, teachers and administrators alike. She was a devout Catholic, having received her training from Father Haney at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in 1948. She taught Catechism at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Wayne for 40 years. After she retired from the school district, she helped raise her youngest grandson, Jared. She could often be seen around town and at the Wayne Public Library with Jared.  She also loved music: she learned to play the piano and organ so she could instill a love of music in her children and grandchildren; and she succeeded!

Virgie learned to sew from her mother, who made clothes out of necessity during the Great Depression. Virgie became an expert seamstress and even made wedding dresses for family and friends. Once, she was asked to repair a zipper for a person attending a funeral at Uht Funeral Home, and this began a warm relationship with the Rediske family that endured for all the years she lived on Glenwood. In addition to sewing, Virgie learned to knit, crochet, embroider and more. She loved making decorative purses and craft items and teaching her grandchildren how to sew.  Her hands were never idle.

Virgie was energetic, loving, faith-filled, and positive-traits that made her the extraordinary person we adored. She left us with a legacy of love, laughter and the importance of a good dessert.

Virgie’s baby son Henry, her sister, Dolores Timmerman, and her brother, Leroy Johnston, along with her husband, Milton, and her parents, Mary and Roy Johnston, passed on before her. She is survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws too numerous to name: a rich tapestry of love and family.

So here’s to Virgie Mack, a woman who lived, laughed and loved with her whole heart. The world is a little less bright without her, but heaven is surely having a ball! Keep laughing, Virgie, until we meet again.