Virgie W. Powers

January 19, 1953 - April 25, 2015

Virgie loved family. She loved family first and foremost above all else. She loved her husband Scott unconditionally and adored her beautiful children Brandon and Megan. She loved and missed her parents, and she loved her many cousins who were really her brothers and sisters. She loved her friends and she loved shopping with them, at every chance she could get. Most of all she loved just being with family no matter what we were doing - whether it was on vacation in Hawaii, Monterrey, or Disneyland; going overboard with holiday decorations; or just hanging out at our wonderful home in the hills watching the sunset while looking out over the bay. But for over five years, Virgie was battling lung cancer. It is all the more sad since she never smoked, hated smoking, and her chosen profession was as a respiratory therapist at Stanford, where she worked for many years before starting a family. Then in the summer of 2009, she had surgery to remove a suspicious mass that turned out to be a tumor in the lung, and was apparently cancer-free for over three years. But in early 2013, it came back with a vengeance as stage 4 cancer of the left lung and pleura. For the next two years and three long courses of chemotherapy she fought bravely and relatively successfully, kept it at bay, and was able to enjoy life and family. But just recently, barely two weeks ago, we found that it had suddenly and rapidly spread throughout the body. Then even more suddenly, in the course of only two days, she slipped away. After 24 happy years of marriage, raising two wonderful chidren to become fine adults, and many happy and joyful memories throughout that time, she died quietly and peacefully on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Wishes and Donations The family is grateful for the love and support that everyone has expressed. People often want to know what they can do to help but the truth is there is not a lot that can be done at a time like this to lessen the pain. But the positive feelings you express - whether they be comments, cards, calls, hugs, prayers, even texts and emails, no matter what the medium - are heard and felt by us and are deeply appreciated. Sometimes we feel we need to do more, to do something that can make an impact. If Virgie were here, she would say that in lieu of flowers send chocolate. But more importantly, we want you to know that lung cancer is not just a smoker’s disease and that it kills more people than any other cancer – in fact, it claims more lives than breast, ovarian, and cervical cancer combined. So in lieu of flowers, we invite you to make a donation in Virgie’s name to a lung cancer research foundation or an organization that educates and advocates for lung cancer. Our suggestions include the following: The American Lung Association http://www.lung.org The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation http://www.lungcancerfoundation.org Lastly, please do leave your comments on this memorial page. We would love to hear your positive thoughts, memories, and even your feelings of sadness. But most especially, we would love to hear your happy remembrances. Fare you well, fare you well I love you more than words can tell Listen to the river sing sweet songs To rock my soul - Hunter/Garcia