Virginia Tootle Carr

Virginia Tootle Carr of Statesboro, Georgia, died peacefully at home on May 16, 2007. She was 82. Born in Tattnall County, she graduated from Reidsville High School in 1939 at age 15. She wanted to become a nurse, but was not yet old enough to enter training, so she stayed home for the next three years in anticipation of nursing school. As the second among two girls and three boys, she had much to do helping to care for family. Her life took a big turn when the US entered World War II. She went to work as a lab technician at Warner Robbins Army Air Base in Georgia, then transferred to the chemistry labs of the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. There she met and married Herbert Carswell Carr of MacIntyre, Georgia, who was working on the uranium production lines. After the war they moved to Ohio when Herbert accepted a job as a production manager in a chemical plant. She and Herbert raised a son Thomas, made many friends, participated actively in school and church, and lived happily until Herbert's death in 1973. The next year she returned to Georgia. After earning a degree in accounting at Swainsboro Technical College, she spent 20 years managing offices and keeping books for Stateboro businesses ranging from a clothier to a commercial landscaper to a law firm. She was very active in Business and Professional Women and a member of the Bulloch County Historical Society. An avid birdwatcher, she traipsed the woods, river banks, and marshes with the Briar Creek Birders. She went with her friends to cultural events at Georgia Southern University and to the symphony in Savannah. She traveled often to East Lansing, Michigan, to visit her son, his wife Denise, and her grandchildren Michael and Elizabeth. Her warmth and vitality attracted everyone she met ? it would be impossible to count the times that Tom and Denise have been asked "How's your mom? When's she coming to visit?" Church life was important to her. In Ohio she and Herbert attended Perry United Methodist Church and she remained a member her whole life. In Statesboro she joined Langston United Methodist Church, where she served as President of the United Methodist Women for many years. She enjoyed the fellowship of the Carol Carter Circle of another Statesboro church, First United Methodist. She was known for her leadership, her knack of crafting devotionals that cut to the heart of life and faith, and her lemon bars ? she thought that good fellowship and good food go hand in hand. As a member of the Friends of Old Shiloh Cemetery, she helped restore to its former beauty a cemetery in Tattnall County where many Tootles are buried. Virginia was a pillar of strength in her family, dedicated to her community, and always willing to do for others. She was preceded in death by her parents Robert Hartridge Tootle Sr. and Veta Ross Tootle, her husband Herbert, and three brothers, Robert Hartridge Tootle Jr., Jerry Paul Tootle, and Charles Henry Tootle. She is survived by her son Tom and his wife Denise, her grandson Michael and his wife Ruth of Montague, Massachusetts, her granddaughter Elizabeth of Ithaca, New York, her sister Martha T. Cain of Statesboro with whom she lived for the last 18 months of her life, a sister-in-law Hilda Baxter Tootle of Reidsville, Georgia, a brother-in-law Iverson Carr of Rome, Georgia, a number of treasured nieces and nephews, and many other relatives and friends in Georgia, Ohio, and Michigan, all of whom she loved dearly. Virginia will be buried beside Herbert in Perry Township Cemetery, Perry, Ohio, at 7 pm Friday, May 25, 2007. Rev Keith Mostad will officiate. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Perry United Methodist Church, 3875 Main Street, Perry, Ohio 44081. The Behm Family Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.