Virginia Kurtz Crain died at age 92 on August 21, 2018, in Las Cruces, NM, where she had resided in recent years.

Virginia was born on August 31, 1925, to Hannah and Irvin Kurtz of rural Richland County near Galchutt, ND.  She was sister to Mary Delores, Darrel, Howard, Duane and Phyllis Kurtz.  She is survived by her brother, Duane of Galchutt and sister Phyllis Palmer of Las Cruces, NM; nephews Loren Lang, Scott Qualy; nieces, Jerilyn Friemond and Kristen Whitehead and seven grand-nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents Hannah and Irvin Kurtz, Mary Delores Lang, Darrel and Howard Kurtz, and husband Paul Wesley Crain of Lompoc, CA.

Virginia attended Galchutt schools and graduated from Wahpeton High School in 1943 where she was an honor student. Upon completion, she attended Valley City Teachers College and taught in the rural schools near Wyndmere, ND.  During the war years, she worked in the defense industry in Tacoma, WA, and later attended Pacific Lutheran College in Tacoma.  Her work years took her to Boeing in Seattle and Minneapolis Honeywell.

Virginia returned to Moorhead State Teachers College in Moorhead, NM, to complete her Bachelor of Science degree and began teaching middle school English and Spanish in Bristol, SD, and later in Lompoc, CA, at a middle school. While teaching, she completed her Master's Degree at CalPoly in San Luis Obispo, CA.  Lompoc became her home where she lived with her husband, Paul Wesley Crain, for more than 40 years.

When she was not busy teaching, she volunteered at the Lompoc Historical Museum, La Purisima Mission and the Alpha Club.

She will be remembered by her loving family and loyal friends for her love of learning, teaching, singing and poetry.

Memorials may be sent to the Lompoc Public Library, Lompoc, CA 93436, or the Galchutt Lutheran Cemetery Fund, Galchutt, ND 58075.