Virginia Kriebel Deeds
Virginia (Ginny) Kriebel Deeds, a long-time resident of Bridgewater and a teacher in Augusta County for many years, passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. at Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She was 81.
Deeds was born on September 9, 1943, in Souderton, Pennsylvania and graduated from what is now Dock Mennonite Academy in Souderton.
After high school, she attended and graduated from what is now Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg and began her teaching career at a school in Chestertown, Maryland on the Eastern Shore. She later moved to Virginia and taught at the elementary level in Augusta County at schools in Craigsville, Churchville, and North River prior to her retirement.
Aunt Ginny greatly enjoyed arts and crafts and stained glass and would invite some of her grandnieces to her home and work on creative projects. She also spent many enjoyable hours with her nieces, nephews, and grandnephews.
"We'd come over and we'd hear all about her gardens, her cats, her latest house/shed remake, and her paintings before we would get to whatever project we were working on. Usually, it was time for lunch or ice cream by then. I liked that she treated me like an adult and told me about her life," said Tabitha Driver, one of her grandnieces. "She always made sure to get the right supplies and get perfectly set up before a project but, if necessary, she would bend her expectations of what was best. One time she was helping me sew a dress, and the only fabric in the store that I liked was stretchy. Since I was a new seamstress, she was not sure about that, but she got it."
She also became an avid bowler after she retired from teaching. "She was a devoted aunt and sister, delighting in the joys and milestones of her extended family," said David Driver, one of her nephews.
Deeds is preceded in death by her late husband, Donald Deeds, who passed away in 2018 and was buried at Keezletown Cemetery. They were married on June 7, 1983, and lived for many years on West Bank Street in Bridgewater.
She is also preceded in death by her father, Warren R. Kriebel, who died October 21, 1993, and her mother, Sallie Mae Kriebel, who died Jan. 17, 2007. She is also preceded in death by two brothers: Arlin Kriebel, who died April 7, 2012, and Floyd Kriebel, who died Sept. 19, 2013.
Deeds is survived by three sisters, Marilyn Kriebel Ritchie of Bridgewater/Rockingham; Lorraine Landis, from Souderton; and Audrey Villanueva of Florida, New York; two brothers, Glenn and Wilbur Kriebel, from Souderton; 15 nieces and nephews and a number of grandnieces and nephews.
Arrangements are being handled by Johnson Funeral Services in Bridgewater. The viewing will be held on Friday, June 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Johnson Funeral Home at 208 South Main Street in Bridgewater. The funeral service will be on Saturday, June 7 at 1 p.m. at Johnson Funeral Home, with burial to follow at Keezletown Cemetery in Rockingham County.
Online condolences may be made at johnsonfs.com
