Virginia May Buckberry

Virginia May Buckberry (Robertson) was born on October 21,1929, to George and Bethel “Betty” Robertson. She was raised in Wayne, Michigan where she graduated from Wayne Memorial High School. Throughout her life, she reminded her family that she was a proud Wayne Zebra. After high school, she went to work for Michigan Bell Telephone where she met the love of her life, Otto. They married on August 23,1951, and together they had one son, Gary. They eventually built a house in Plymouth, Michigan where Virginia resided for 65 years.

Virginia cherished many facets of her life. She loved to sketch pictures and was a talented oil painter. She would invite other artists into her home where she would host oil painting classes. Her paintings were featured for many at the annual Plymouth Fall Festival. She leaves her family with a legacy of paintings for which we are thankful.

Her pride and joy was her three grandchildren who shared in her enthusiasm of collecting ceramic Michigan Lighthouses, frogs, owls and Beanie Babies. A perfect afternoon for her was when her grandchildren visited Plymouth. She would delight in taking the three of them to the Box Bar where they would spend the next few hours visiting and eating her favorites, which became their favorites, Box Bar nachos and meatballs. The family also enjoyed many dinners at Three Brothers and Bode’s Corned Beef House, favorite restaurants of Virginia’s.

Virginia loved to shop and was proud of the fact that she always found a “sale" or “deal” and never paid full price. She frequented neighborhood garage sales, Wonderland Mall, Westland Mall and Hudson’s Department stores. She and her mother, until her death, had a standing engagement every Thursday to shop at Hudson’s flagship store in Detroit. After their shopping day, without hesitation, they would walk across Woodward Avenue and treat themselves to a Sanders hot fudge cream puff.

She devoted herself to her home in Plymouth, which was a true reflection of her spirit of collecting the things she loved. Attending Plymouth Community Band Concerts during the summer was always a highlight for her along with the Plymouth Farmer’s Market and library.  One of her favorite days of the year was the day after Thanksgiving when she was up and out of the house by 6:00 am to get a long sought after deal at a store in downtown Plymouth.

Virginia passed away on August 27, 2023, surrounded by her loving family while listening to music from her favorite artist, Willie Nelson. She was adored by her son, Gary, daughter-in-law, Juliette, grandchildren, Gary II, Colette (Jeffrey) Barth, and Cosette, and great granddaughters, Lucille “Lucy” and Marnie Barth, who found pure enjoyment in seeing her laugh and smile at even the simplest things in life. A kind and caring person in every sense of the word to everyone who passed her way, she never forgot the beauty of having a sense of humor. She was predeceased by her parents, George and Betty and her husband, Otto.

The family would like to extend our sincere thanks to those individuals who have helped Virginia over the past few years: Alicia, Beverly and Sandy. They would also like to thank the staff at Burcham Hills Retirement Community in East Lansing where Virginia was residing at the time of her death. Also, the staff from Careline Hospice was a tremendous help to the family during this difficult time. A private burial will take place at Riverside Cemetery in Plymouth.