Wilma Jane Shelton Childers
Published 11:19 am Thursday, October 13, 2016
Wilma Jane Shelton Childers died at home on October 7, 2016. She was born in Chase City on February 18, 1938 to Fitzhugh Lee Shelton Jr. and Mary Jane Love. She grew up on her parent’s farm in Rehoboth.
She went to school in Victoria and graduated from Victoria High School in 1956. After high school she attended Radford College (now University) for two years. While at Radford she met a young Virginia Tech cadet named Tom Childers, fell in love and married him on September 27, 1958.
Tom and Wilma lived in the Washington, D. C. metropolitan area for many years. She was a stay-at-home mom while her children were growing up. In 1979 she went to work as a teller for Bank of Bethesda and worked her way up to Branch Manager. She retired from the bank in 1993 and spent several years assisting her aging mother. Tom retired in 1995 and in 1996 Tom and Wilma bought a lot, had a house built and moved to Lake Anna.
Wilma loved reading, gardening, decorating her new home, traveling, and visiting with friends and family. She was a member of The Court House Chapter of The Daughters of the American Revolution, Mineral Chapter of The United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Victoria High School Alumni Association and the Louisa Virginia Chapter of AARP.
She is survived by her husband, Thomas Benton Childers; her three children, Paula Lynn Childers Jacobs, Thomas Stephen Childers (Sharon Jean Pfeffer), and Elizabeth Lee Childers O’Gwin (Christopher Matthew); six grandchildren, Douglas Lee Jacobs (Anna Elizabeth Palguta), Mary Catherine O’Gwin, Emily Elizabeth O’Gwin, Madeline Jane O’Gwin, Travis Thomas John Childers, and Ashley Anne Childers and her sister, Martha Ellen Shelton Lopresti (Thomas Paul).
Please consider sending a contribution to the Arthritis Foundation Inc. in Richmond, Virginia or to The VCU Massey Cancer Center in Richmond or to The Greater Richmond Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association or to your favorite charity.
The funeral will be held at Cool Spring Christian Church at 2852 Ontario Road, Keysville, Virginia 23947 with viewing at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 13, and service at noon. Burial will immediately follow service in the Cool Spring Cemetery.
Staples Funeral Home, Victoria, is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at www.staplesfh.com.