Virginia Donaldson Cahoon Graham, a native of Martha’s Vineyard, died in Whittier, Calif., on March 23.

She was born on Feb. 13, 1929, in Oak Bluffs to her parents Kenneth Earle Cahoon and Zilpha Sherman Donaldson of West Tisbury. Kenneth Cahoon, a captain in the Coast Guard, was the son of Albertus S. Cahoon, captain of the U.S. Lifesaving station at Gay Head, and Elizabeth Rowena Weeks. Zilpha was the daughter of George Lester Donaldson and Susan Pease Davis of West Tisbury. After Kenneth’s retirement from the Coast Guard, the Cahoons in 1938 moved to San Diego, Calif., when Virginia was nine years old. Virginia married Frederick William Graham Jr. in San Diego on April 24, 1949. After living in San Bernardino and Los Angeles, Fred and Virginia and their children moved to Whittier in 1961. Virginia’s greatest joy was her family. She was a warm and loving friend to all, who brought happiness to everyone who knew her. She was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was preceded in death by her husband on May 31, 1983.

Virginia never lost her love for the Island. In June of 2005 her children accompanied her back to Martha’s Vineyard so she could see her home one last time. She visited her old Donaldson homestead in West Tisbury, next to the current Up-Island Automotive service station. Her grandfather George Lester Donaldson, one of the last whaling captains on the Island, opened the original station on the site in 1915. Virginia visited the Edgartown home of her great-grandfather Joseph Warren Donaldson; the gravesites of her Donaldson, Davis, and Cahoon ancestors; and the Gay Head cliffs, where she fondly remembered playing as a child. She had a lovely visit with Eric and Marguerite Cottle of Chilmark, who currently reside in the home where Daniel Herbert and Hazel Cahoon Flanders, Virginia’s aunt and uncle, once lived. John Alley was kind enough to spend time with Virginia and her family when they happened to drop into Alley’s General Store (in the days when Virginia lived on the Island it was known as S.M. Mayhew’s General Store). John wrote a column in the Gazette soon after on the visit of the returning Island native.

On her 80th birthday celebration in February of 2009, her love for Martha’s Vineyard was a prominent theme of the festivities. Her children and grandchildren now share these feelings for the Island.

Virginia’s funeral services were held in the Sky Rose Chapel at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier on Friday, March 27, 2009. Virginia is buried in Rose Hills, next to her beloved husband, Fred. Virginia and her husband are together again, forever. We trust that in spirit Virginia now is also reunited with her deceased Island family members.