In Memory of

Virginia

Q.

Banks

Obituary for Virginia Q. Banks

Content to leave the cares of this world behind, on December 26, 2022, Virginia Q. Banks of Chapel Hill, NC, found the peace she longed for in the arms of our savior, Lord Jesus Christ. She was 91. She was born to the late Otto and Alice Quednau in Hartford, CT and is preceded in death by her sister, Nancy Quednau, and her husband, Robert P. Banks, Jr. OD. She graduated from William H. Hall High School in West Hartford, CT and earned an Associate degree from Vermont Jr. College. She met her husband while working for an accountant in Boston, MA. They were wed in Hartford, CT and lived in Boston until her husband finished Optometry school. The newlyweds put down roots and raised their family in Mifflintown, PA, her husband’s ancestral home. Virginia easily adapted to life in a small town so much so that her behavior evolved into a kind of “You can take the girl out of the country but….” sort of narrative. Thought the couple moved into a senior living community in Chapel Hill in 2012, it was the summer months in PA she most looked forward to. Her favorite community program in Chapel Hill was line dancing and she would always shriek with delight when they cued up Tracy Byrd’s “I’m from the country.” In her senior years, she challenged the expected norms of aging; alpine skiing with her family until age 86 and playing tennis, and then pickle ball until age 90. As empty nesters, Virginia and her husband Bob were a part of a PA polka dance alliance following accomplished bands all over the state and even appearing on TV. She enjoyed trout fishing and worked to improve prospects for the struggling Eastern Bluebird by installing and maintaining Bluebird houses in PA and NC. She even kept a colony of mealworms so she could be certain breeding pairs were sufficiently nourished. Lovingly known as “Meme” by her family, she is survived by her son, Robert P. Banks III and his wife Susan of Stuart, FL, her daughter, Bonnie B. Holmes and her husband Paul of Cary, NC, and four grandchildren, Ian Holmes, Aundrea Holmes Dykema and her husband Joe, Sarah Banks, and Jennifer Banks.
A gathering to celebrate Virginia’s life will take place at 11:00 AM, Saturday, January 7, 2023 at St. Marks Episcopal Church, 21 S. Main St., Lewistown, PA. A visitation will be held from 10:00 AM until the time of the gathering at 11:00 AM on Saturday, January 7th at the church. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Brown Funeral Homes, Inc., 100 Bridge St., Mifflintown. Online condolences and tributes can be shared with the family at www.brownfuneralhomesinc.com.