Virginia Grim Smith Bussey, 88, of Carol Woods Retirement Community died after a brief illness Sunday in UNC Hospital. She was born December 25, 1916 in Richmond, VA to Eugene Henry Grim, Jr. and Addie May Seward Grim. She was raised in both Portsmouth and Norfolk, VA, and lived in Norfolk until 1966. Mrs. Bussey moved to Edgefield, SC, where she lived until 1987. She was then a resident of Apache Junction, AZ until moving to Chapel Hill in 1998.
Mrs. Bussey was a devoted churchwoman, active for many years at Talbot Park Baptist Church in Norfolk. An avid gardener, she was President of the Norfolk Garden Club. Mrs. Bussey also loved to play golf and bridge. While a SC resident, she also won the state sewing contest. Her retirement years were enriched with an ongoing love of music, theater and the abundant activities offered through Carol Woods. Virginia was devoted to her family and her deep Christian beliefs. She was blest with many friends, to whom she was always faithful.
Surviving are her children, Commander E.T. Smith, USN Ret. and wife, Judith, of Columbia, SC and Virginia
Sandra Corley Mitchell
Dennis Bussey,
I am sorry to read about your stepmother’s death in The State newspaper in Columbia, SC. She was such an accomplished lady, and I am sure the family had many happy years with her. I also remember reading your father’s obit in The State paper.
My father, Raymond Corley, worked in the same building with your father in Edgefield your father with Farm Bureau and Daddy w/ the US Dept. of Agriculture. Daddy often spoke of your family and the Navy careers. I did not realize that your brother Wayne had died. While I was behind you and Wayne in school I grad. from Strom Thurmond HS in ’69, I do remember having seen you two off and on. You probably never knew my father. He was 6″10 tall. I am thinking of you at this time.
Sandra Corley Mitchell
Sarah Kathryn Smith Collier
I will deeply miss my grandmother, Sarah Virginia Grim Smith Bussey. She was an amazing woman and I referred to her as my “Steel Magnolia”. I always enjoyed our frequent phone chats with her giving me sage advice on life, southern cookingher caramel cake was famous! or anything else we were discussing–her cognitive skills were incredible, even at 88! I will sleep alittle better knowing she is now watching over all of us. She was loved dearly.