Palestine High School Alumni Association

Virginia Rutledge Stark

09 / 03 / 1904  –  03 / 02 / 2006

Services for Virginia Rutledge Stark, 101 of San Antonio, were held Saturday, March 4, 2006 at Sunset Memorial Park by Porter Loring Mortuary.  Virginia Rutledge Stark (Munnie) died on March 2, 2006.

She was born September 3, 1904 in Palestine, Texas, the daughter of Myra Virginia and Edward Nelson Rutledge.  A graduate of Palestine High School, she attended The University of Texas at Austin where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.

Married to James Kenneth Stark of Plano, Texas, she was a resident of San Antonio for 75 years, following her vocation as homemaker and taking part in community activities.

Many civic and social organizations claimed her as an active member, among them the Alamo Heights School System, the San Antonio Country Club and the Charity Ball Association. She was a founding member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where she served as the first President of the Women of St. Luke’s. She also was a founder of the Zeta Tau Alpha Mothers’ Club.

She was especially loyal to the Gamma Phi Beta Alumnae, who renamed the San Antonio Chapter the Virginia Rutledge Stark Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta. These members remained her close friends and supporters to the end of her 101 years.

The family is truly grateful to each of them. The family is grateful, as well, to Dr. Mark Nelson and to caregivers, Juana Rosas, Tommie Albrecht, Mary Margaret Garza and Josie Quintero. Virginia, or Munnie, as she was known to many, was predeceased by her husband in 1983 and by one grandson, Kenneth McCandless.

She is survived by: Three daughters and their husbands: Peggy and Bill Trieschmann, Virginia (Ginger) and Tom Blaylock, and Suzanne and Bill McCandless; Eight grandchildren and spouses: Susan Virginia Saunders and Jim Hurst, John Saunders, Jr. and Laurie Saunders, Margaret and Bob Patterson, Jamie and Jenny Durbin, John and Townsend Durbin, Virginia Rutledge (Gigi) and Robert Dooley, Patrick McCandless, Betsy and John Greytok, Rose McCandless, widow of Kenneth McCandless. Twenty-one great grandchildren: Sandra Thornton, Clay Thornton, John Saunders III, Christina Saunders, Gracie Saunders, Cameron Campbell and wife, Anne, Trenton Campbell, Stuart Campbell, Will Patterson, Maggie Patterson, Preston Durbin, Ford Durbin, Luke Durbin, John Durbin, Jr., Robert Durbin, Nelson Dooley, Billy McCandless, James McCandless, Laura Beth Greytok, Kristen Greytok and Amanda Greytok.

Source: Memorial Obituary by Porter Loring Mortuary 03-03-2006