Virginia Dean Tabor Hill

Virginia Dean Tabor Hill, 98, of Keller, TX passed peacefully on July 1, 2022. She was born in Anaconda MT on September 21, 1923, to Theresa Margaret (Theisen) and Albert Adolf Tabor.

She was the 3rd oldest child in a family of five. Her family lived several years in Africa and Chile where her father worked for the Anaconda Copper Mines. The family returned to Montana and Virginia and her siblings went on to attend Great Falls High School where she graduated in 1942.

Her clever sense of humor and quick wit made her the life of any event. She believed the more the merrier and could always find a reason for celebration to gather a multiple of friends and family around her. She was the sibling that always traveled to visit and stay connected with her brothers and sister and build lasting relationships with her nieces and nephews.

She was a natural born actress and was extremely creative often choregraphing comical skits and costumes for friends, family and the clubs and organizations that she joined. She would use the shows to grow member participation and new membership interest. She started her actress “career” early in life being cast as an extra in the Little Rascals Our Gang show in 1928. She was a gifted writer always having pen and paper at hand to document her thoughts, her life stories, a poem that popped into her head or pages of a letter to a friend or family member. She missed this gift dearly in her later years when Macular Degeneration made it too difficult for her to put pen to paper.

Virginia loved to travel and did so extensively throughout her lifetime. She was never one to let the grass grow under her feet. More than not, she was on her way out the door headed for the next destination listed on her bucket list. She loved having travel companions along with her but did not hesitate to hit the road alone if there was no one available to accompany her. She was always ready to bend one’s ear sharing her many life and world travel adventures. It is due to her love of sharing and vast storytelling that an extensive family tree going back to great, great grandparents and beyond has been created. Her stories also allowed the recent reconnections and new connections of Tabor family members.

She loved all types of dancing but leaned towards square, round, and line dancing more than not. She was an avid square dancer her entire life and was a member of numerous square dance clubs in CA and NM. She was the founder of the Silver Fox Clogging Dance Team in Albuquerque NM in which she choreographed the dance routines, taught the classes, and scheduled their shows which she ensured were numerous.

She loved to cook and bake and could put on a spread like no other. Her pies were renown and highly sought after. Our living room and kitchen would often be filled with pies stacked throughout. She loved to sew and was a very talented home seamstress never meeting a sewing challenge. She would create and cut out her own patterns and/ or alter store bought patterns to fit her and her customer’s visions. She often singlehandedly designed and created her square dance clubs’ lady’s dresses and matching men’s shirts for the club’s dance competitions. She was a crocheter as well and before losing her sight she would have skeins of yarn and crochet needles near ready to construct a blanket, sweater, hat, or something creative that her innovative mind imagined.

She was a member of a host of organizations including the American Business Women’s Association, Order of the Eastern Star, The Degree of Pocahontas Women's Auxiliary, Red Hat Society, and several square and round dance clubs. She was an innovative leader and would quickly serve as a committee member for any group she joined as soon as opportunity presented itself.

Virginia worked in credit and collections for most of her career unable to stay with any one company for any length of time due to supporting her husband, Wayland John Hill, as he moved with his international construction company throughout the US supervising the building of dams. Their final move with the company was to Albuquerque NM where she stayed for 35 years working for Kirkland Federal Credit Union and Sandia Labs. She came to Texas sixteen years ago to be closer to her daughter and son-in-law.

She is survived by four children, sons, John Hill of Saginaw TX, Lee Hill and his wife Becky of Vallejo CA; daughter, Carolyn Martin of Cape Girardeau, MO and Kathleen Facio and her husband Danny of Keller TX; grandchildren, Kathaleen Hill, Diane Nelms, Brandon Chavez and his wife Rachel, Brent Chavez and his wife Denise, David Hill, Alyce Hill, Sondra Mizer and her husband Scott, and Dannie Lopez. Great grandchildren, Collan, Cory and Colby Chavez, John Lopez, Emily, Ashley and Addison Chavez, Savannah Mizer, Rachel Lopez, and Leon Hill; great great grandchildren, Adam, Liam and Noah Chavez and a host of nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by husband Tom Graham, son Michael Eugene Liles, brothers Gene and Lee Tabor and sisters Doris Tabor and Ruth Burch.

Virginia is now at peace and happily dancing in the heavenly clouds. She will be laid to rest at the Riverview Abbey Mausoleum in Portland OR alongside her dad, mom, and son Mike.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Dementia Society of America® or a charity of your choice.