Virginia Mary Loveless

Virginia Mary Loveless, daughter of Alvin Floy Hellam and Mary Pricilla Peat, peacefully passed away Christmas morning surrounded by her family and reuniting with her parents and beloved siblings in the next life. Virginia, or “Ginny”, was born April 18,1931 in western Pennsylvania. She was the youngest daughter and the fifth of six children in her family. Her characteristic warmth, strength, work ethic, protectiveness, and fashion sense, developed throughout her 94 years of life.

Virginia grew up in a small town in western Pennsylvania. When she was 10 years old, her mother died and the kids moved into their maternal grandparents’ home for a couple of years. During her teenage years, she moved to northeastern Ohio with her father, stepmother, siblings, and stepsister. She was working for the local telephone company in her mid 20’s when Robert “Bob” Loveless started to court “Skinny Ginny”. He would visit their hometown after returning from WWII and moving to Alaska.

Virginia told Bob that she was NOT going to move to Alaska with him. However, Bob’s persistence paid off and the two married in the spring of 1957 and moved to a cabin 40 miles outside of Fairbanks, complete with an outhouse, a far cry from the homes and department stores of Ohio. She also quickly learned that “working until the sun goes down” was not a good principle to follow in central Alaska when the sun can be above the horizon for 20+ hours in the summer! Friends told her that she could burn a few squares of toilet paper on the toilet seat in the wintertime to warm it up if it got too cold. She took this advice one cold day, and much to her chagrin, the story of a local woman running out of a burning outhouse was published in the local newspaper several years later.

She adapted quickly and all five of her children were born and raised in Alaska. Her organizational skills and assertive nature came in handy as she helped manage many of Bob’s extra side projects, making sure there was homemade bread, spaghetti, brownies, and more delicious food in the home for the kids, and keeping the moose out of the vegetables in her large summer gardens.

When Bob invited missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into their home, she remembered living with her grandmother, who was never a member of the Church, talking positively about “Joe Smith”. This memory along with what she learned about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ moved her to join the church. When Virginia learned about the Church’s teachings about smoking, she put her cigarettes down and never smoked again. Folks learned quickly that if Virginia believed in something, she was going to accomplish whatever she had her mind set on. All her children, and her husband, were baptized in the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

In 1990, after living in Alaska for more than 30 years, she moved to Buhl, Idaho with Bob and youngest daughter, Maggie, to enjoy the “warm” Idaho winters and be closer to family. True to form, Virginia made fast friends in Buhl and her church community. Starting in the mid-90’s, Virginia and Bob would spend most summers in Alaska and return to Idaho for the remainder of the year.

Virginia is best remembered for her warmth and generous spirit. No stranger ever entered her home as all were welcomed and treated like family. If you left Virginia’s home hungry, it was your own fault, and not for her lack of trying to feed you. Their home was frequently the center of neighborhood gatherings, and you best come with an appetite.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Loveless; five children and their spouses, Grant and Julie Loveless; Mitch and Teresa Loveless; Mary Frances and Ron Duffin; Laura and Clay Montgomery; and Maggie and Nathan Wood; 26 grandchildren, and 56 great-grandchildren. The family would like to extend their heartfelt appreciation for the warmth, compassion, and professionalism of the nurses, doctors, and staff of St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center.

Funeral service will be held at 11:00 am, with a viewing beginning at 10:00 am, Saturday, January 17, 2026 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 501 Main St., Buhl, Idaho. For those unable to attend the funeral service in person, you can watch a live stream on Farmer Funeral Chapel’s Facebook page.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family on Virginia’s memorial webpage at www.farmerfuneralchapel.com.