Mrs. Virginia Leigh Steinke

Virginia Steinke was a southern belle transplanted to our great midwestern town. She was born Virginia Leigh Ridout in Petersburg, Virginia in 1923. Her parents were Mary Helen (nee. Stevens) and Louis Randolph Ridout, the Assistant Fire Chief of Petersburg. As a young lady she planned to attend the University of Virginia for nursing. WWII began, Virginia worked for the US Army near her home and as the war progressed, she and her good friend transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to work with the US Navy. It is there she met Earl Wallmann Steinke, a US Army Air Corps fighter pilot. They married in 1947 and settled in Waterford, Wisconsin, Earl’s hometown. She and Earl raised three daughters. Virginia spent 75 years as a Wisconsinite, never having lost her southern accent. She was an active community member for decades. She ran a family business in East Troy for 12 years and aided her husband in the operations of Steinke Company of Waterford. Her last positions before retiring were in the data entry realm for two large corporations. After 69 years of marriage, Virginia was preceded in death by her love, Earl. Virginia was a member of Waterford United Methodist Church and the American Legion Auxiliary.

Virginia is survived by her three children, Barbara Jo Baldwin, Debra Lynn Steinke, and Col. MarcyAnn Wallman Flanagan Steinke; five grandchildren, Brett, Mikala, Kory, Charity, and Aaron; twelve great grandchildren, Joseph, Benjamin, Hannah, Adam, Addison, Amelia, Jack, Grace, Sarah and Dean, Mathew, and Dana; and one great great grandson, Will.

Virginia will be celebrated in a private ceremony.

Mealy Funeral Home
Waterford, Wisconsin
262-534-2233
www.mealyfuneralhome.com