Virginia Mae Berney

Virginia Mae Edmiston Berney was born June 12, 1916, in Atchison, Ks., to James William and Ethel Bowen Edmiston. Her grandparents, John and Molly Bowen and James and Loretta Edmiston, were early Atchison pioneers, and she grew up with a love of the history of Atchison and the people who built the community. She was proud of her Irish heritage and made sure that her children were as well. She was equally proud to have come from a long line of loyal Democrats and voted in every election.

Virginia was married to Eugene Sullivan Berney, DDS, on April 10, 1945, at St. Benedict's Church in Atchison Kansas. They became the parents of four children: Virginia Berney O'Malley, Kate Berney Werring, Margie Berney Sipkin, and William Peter Berney. Dr. Berney died in March 1963, and Virginia courageously raised her four children. Virginia was a strong, brave, fearless and curious woman who never thought there was something she could not do. Her children have been graced with that belief.

Virginia began kindergarten at the age of four, because she was lonely when her neighbor and life-long friend Edwin Munson, who was a year older, started kindergarten without her. She attended Atchison public schools until third grade and then Mount St. Scholastica Academy for both grade school and high school. She graduated from the Academy in 1934. She attended Mt. St. Scholastica College for two years, and then transferred to the University of Kansas. Virginia never forgot how blessed she and her sister were that, in the midst of the Depression, their parents were able to provide them with college educations.

At KU, Virginia was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority and was a confirmed Jayhawk. She taught all her grandchildren the KU Fight Song.

Virginia studied under Esther Twente, founder of the School of Social Work at the University, and developed her life-long career in social work. Virginia had an unswerving commitment to assisting others to overcome difficulties in their lives. After her graduation from KU in 1938, she worked for the Atchison County Welfare Department. The Depression was in full force, and she was paid no salary, but she took the job to gain experience. In 1939, she was hired by the State of Kansas and worked in Topeka for the next several years. She often recalled that because she had gained that prior unpaid experience, she earned .25 more an hour at her job in Topeka. She also worked for the WPA, placing individuals in jobs building the Wyandotte County Lake. During World War II, she worked for the Red Cross in Lawton, Oklahoma. Later, following her husband's death, Virginia returned to her social work career, working for the State of Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services for 15 more years.

After her retirement from SRS, Virginia "hit the road" and indulged her persistent curiosity by traveling extensively with friends, and with her beloved sister and brother-in-law, Bootsie and Bud Baptiste. Her favorite experience was a freighter trip through the Mediterranean Sea with Boots and Bud, where the freighter was captained by a woman. Virginia thought that a woman captain was a fine thing.

Virginia was instrumental in the creation of the Hunger Task Force, a local group of churches who assist those in need. She was a founding member of the board of the Northeast Kansas Community Action Program. She was a member of the Governing Board of The Guidance Center, supporting the work of those helping the mentally ill. She volunteered at the Atchison Library. She was an avid bridge player all her life (and to her great disappointment, only one of her four children became a bridge player). She was a member of the Mount St. Scholastica College, and then Benedictine College, alumna associations, including serving a term as president, and serving on the Benedictine College Board of Governors.

Virginia is survived by her four children, ten grandchildren, Peter O'Malley, Mary Kate O'Malley, Anne Law, Molly Creviston, Andrew Werring, Kristin Merritt, Katy Fricke, and Michael, James Patrick and Jack Berney, and nine great grandchildren, Heleina, Karl, Avery and Ian Merritt, Aidan and Madelyn Mae Fricke, Frances Creviston, Carlyn DeBolt and Lillian Virginia Werring.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Eugene Berney, her parents, J.W. and Ethel Edmiston, her sister, Bootsie Baptiste, and her brother-in-law, Bud Baptiste.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, Virginia's friends consider a memorial in her name to the Hunger Task Force, which she helped create. The Hunger Task Force is an enduring representation of Virginia's firm belief in the power of people helping each other. Memorial donations may be left with Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home, Atchison, Kansas.

Mass of Christian burial will be Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 11:00 A.M. at St. Benedict's Church with Abbot Barnabas Senecal, OSB as celebrant. Burial will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery. A parish wake service will be Friday, September 26th at 6:30 P.M. at Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home with visitation with the family to follow until 8:00 P.M.