Virginia Anne Bush Derr

ROCKPORT, Mass. – Born in Washington, D.C., Virginia was the only child of Merle Seely and Richard Tabor Bush, of Berwick, Pennsylvania. When she was very young, they settled in Charleston, West Virginia where her engineer father had found work in the chemical industry. From her formative years there, she carried the loves of nature, singing, inclusive community, and the church throughout her life.

Virginia earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education and Art History from Duke University in 1954. After working for the YWCA in Corpus Christi, Texas, she enrolled in the Master of Religious Education program at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She and a fellow student, Thomas Derr, became involved with the civil rights movement, and social justice remained a life-long passion. They married and moved to Palo Alto, California, where their first two children, Peter and Laura, were born. In 1959, she completed a Master’s degree in history from Stanford University.

They moved back to New York City, and then to Geneva, Switzerland, where Thomas did research at the World Council of Churches for his PhD at Columbia University. Their third child, Mary, called Molly, was born in Geneva. Thomas was hired by Smith College as a professor of religion, so he and Virginia raised their family in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Devoted to the teachings of Jesus, Virginia focused primarily on the message that all people are included in the community of love, especially those whom society has devalued. A life-long learner with a natural curiosity and enthusiasm, she embraced feminism, gay rights, racial justice, multi-cultural awareness, and mental health advances. While childrearing, she also directed the Christian education program at the First and Edwards Churches in Northampton; empowered low-income women at the Holyoke YWCA; taught history at Holyoke Community College; volunteered for the Girl Scouts, and at Northampton State Hospital; and learned to play the cello. She was always generous with sharing her home with people who needed support due to a life challenge: including the vulnerable was a true calling.

Virginia returned to Union Theological Seminary to complete her Master of Divinity degree and was ordained in 1980 in the United Church of Christ. She also acquired her Clinical Pastoral Education certification. She held associate pastor positions in three upstate New York communities. In 1987, she was called to be the pastor of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in New Bedford, Massachusetts. During her seven years there she attracted new families, and expanded their free meal program. Throughout the rest of her life, she continued to serve the church as counselor, group leader, pastor, supply preacher, regional delegate, and volunteer hospital chaplain, in Florida, West Virginia, and Maine. She encouraged each church to commit to the standard of being an Open and Affirming congregation.

Virginia was a supportive presence in her children’s lives, a role model for having the courage to be true to your own self and pursue what is meaningful in life, and always able to convey unconditional love. She loved being involved in the lives of her six grandchildren, Isadora, Sammy, Paul, Monica, Amaia, and Luken, and, at 88, was excited to become a great-grandmother to Amelia.

Disabled after heart surgery at age 85, she lived her final three years with Molly and her family in Rockport, Massachusetts. She died of heart failure at age 92. She is survived by her three children and her daughters-in-law Patricia and Lourdes, her six grandchildren and her grandson-in-law Pio, and her great-granddaughter.

A full life, well lived, we are so grateful for her gifts of enthusiasm, curiosity, courage, connection, inclusivity, and human rights, and we will carry on her legacy with joy!

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at the First Congregational Church of Rockport, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, at 1 p.m. To participate online:

https://www.youtube.com/live/yBLmvxY9m9M.

For a longer obituary, please go to:

https://www.greelyfuneralhome.com/obituaries/obituary-listings.

Donations in Rev. Virginia’s honor may be sent to these two UCC funds: Neighbors in Need supports social justice ministries in the United States.

https://www.ucc.org/neighbors-in-need-special-mission-offering/

The Northeast Association of the UCC maintains a scholarship fund for seminary students preparing for ministry with concern for social justice. Checks can be made out to: Northeast Association UCC, 21 Church St, Winchester MA 01890.