Longtime Homer area resident Virginia L. Cundiff, 88, passed away peacefully in her sleep Tuesday, April 2, 2013, at South Peninsula Hospital.

A celebration of her life and potluck is at noon Saturday, April 13, 2013, at the Homer Elks Lodge. Her cremated remains will be placed near Augustine Volcano so she can be seen from her dining room window on a clear day.

Virginia was born March 1, 1925. She was raised in Mooresville, Mo., near Chillicothe. Her father was a brick mason and contractor.

She met the love of her life, Evan Cundiff, in California in the early 1950s, while they were both working for Douglas Aircraft. They had three sons, all born in California.

“Virginia really wasn’t the adventurous type, but she was proudly willing to go along with Evan’s idea of homesteading at the tip of the lower Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. In May 1958, Evan drove an army truck up the graveled Alcan Highway and claimed one of the last homesteads closest to Homer off the Sterling Highway. Virginia flew up a week before Christmas after Evan had built a rough-cut lumber home for the family. She liked to tell the story of how helpful the stewardesses were to her and her three babies,” her family said.

“Life was pretty hard on the homestead, so naturally there were a lot of stories to tell as she held down the fort a lot with the three boys while Evan was often absent while off working weeks at a time Throughout the years, they could never decide who was really the boss.

“Virginia was a sweetheart and loved by all. She enjoyed sewing and crafted her own clothes and tailored for years. She worked several odd jobs in Homer, most recently for Homer Electric Association. Virginia was noted for saying, ‘You get more with honey than you do with vinegar.’ She was playful and loving to Evan, their Yorkie rat terrier mix ‘T-Dawg,’ and her caregivers clear to the end.” 

She was preceded in death by a son, Doug, who died at sea in 1989, and a brother, Richard.

Virginia is survived by her husband, Evan; sons, Jeff and Barry; grandchildren, Sheena, Shanda, Kayla, Alexis, Bryce and Chase; great-grandchild, Mateo Evan; brother, Rodney; and a sister, Linda Kay.

Arrangements were by Peninsula Memorial Chapel in Kenai.