Virginia Couper Johnson, 87, of Delray Beach, Fla., died at the Bethesda Hospital Hospice Center on Jan. 8.

Mrs. Johnson was predeceased by her husband, Norman Dudley Johnson of New York, N.Y.

Virginia was born in Leesburg, Va., on August 16, 1920. She was the daughter of William and Eloise Hirst Couper. Her brother, Dr. John Lee Couper of Lexington, was an anesthesiologist. She grew up at Virginia Military Institute where her father was executive officer and historiographer. She graduated from Hollins College in Roanoke, Va., in 1941.

She moved to New York that fall and worked as a buyer and designer for Saks Fifth Avenue. She met Norman Dudley Johnson in 1950 and they were married in Lexington, Va., in 1952.

She was active in New York social circles. In New York, she was a member of the Daughters of Cincinnati, Colonial Dames, Colony Club of New York, New York Yacht Club, Pilgrims of America and other civic organizations. She was a longtime supporter of Saint James Church, St. Lukes Hospital and the Church Club of New York. She was chairman several times of important New York charity balls and attended the Blue Ridge School Charity Ball for more than 50 years.

She spent summers in Edgartown, where she and her husband purchased and renovated the Captain Morse House, one of the great whaling captain’s homes. She was a member of the Edgartown Yacht Club, Edgartown Reading Room, Chappaquiddick Beach Club and Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club.

She and her husband Dudley visited Delray Beach, Fla., regularly from 1953 until she made Delray Beach her permanent home in 2006. She was a resident of the Seagate Towers where many of her friends over the years have lived.

Survivors include her sons, Norman Platt Johnson and wife Nancy Johnson of Middletown, R.I., and Ridgely Couper Johnson and wife Claudette Fisher-Johnson of Hertsfordshire, England; four grandsons; two stepchildren, Kathleen Johnson Wu and husband Hsiu Kwang Wu of Ponte Vedra, Fla., and Dudley Disosway Johnson and wife Carole Johnson of Cazenovia, N.Y.; one granddaughter; and three great-grandchildren.

Interment will be at Elmwood Cemetery, 238 East Princess Anne Road, Norfolk, Va. on Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. with a reception immediately following.

A northern memorial service will be held at St. Andrew’s Church, 34 North Summer street, Edgartown on July 14 at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to the American Red Cross or a charity of your choice is suggested.