Virginia Ann Witthauer, 95, a resident of Silver City, NM entered eternal rest Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at her residence. She was born November 7, 1930, in Queens, NY to William Struckmann and Minnie Friedrich.
Virginia Ann Struckmann Witthauer was a loving wife and mother who was devoted to her children. As with the rest of her generation, Virginia experienced the Great Depression as a child and her teenage years were dominated by World War II. Many of her memories were of the need to be frugal, the rationing of food and consumables and victory gardens.
Upon graduating from an all girls high school (Washington High School) in New York, Virgina trained to become a Registered Nurse at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. Some of her stories from this period involved race car drivers being brought to the hospital following accidents at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway- host of the Indianapolis 500 automobile race held every Memorial Day. She also talked about some of her experiences visiting the home of a fellow nursing student, who was raised on a farm in southern Indiana.
After completing her nurse's training, Virginia returned to New York. She worked at Physician's Hospital for a time, then took Horace Greeley's advice to "go west, young woman", moving to Denver, Colorado. While working in Denver, she saw an advertisement that a small mining town in the Colorado Rockies was looking for a nurse. Intrigued, she left Denver and accepted a position as a Registered Nurse in Gilman, Colorado about 1953. It was in Gilman that she met her future husband- Foster J. Witthauer and the couple married on February 4, 1956. They remained married until Foster passed away on August 13, 2024.
Virginia and Foster had five children– Jeremy, Timothy, Rebecca, Peter and Stephen. In June of 1969 the family moved to Tyrone, New Mexico. While living in Tyrone, Virginia resumed her vocation, briefly working as a Registered Nurse at Hillcrest General Hospital in Silver City. In 1978, Virginia and Foster moved to Silver City and remained there after he retired from Phelps Dodge Corporation in 1992.
She is survived by all five children Jeremy (wife Ruth) of Bellerose, NY; Timothy of Seattle, WA, Rebecca Wynia (husband David) of Watertown, MN; Peter (wife Lora) of Aurora, CO and Stephen of Silver City and five granddaughters Nadia Evenden (daughter of Lora) of Denver, CO; and the four daughters of Jeremy and Ruth– Tabitha Witthauer of Bayside, NY; Sarah Witthauer of Dallas, TX; Deborah Witthauer of Phoenix, AZ and Hannah Witthauer.
Virginia Ann Struckmann Witthauer believed in the covenant of Jesus Christ. She remained strong in her beliefs throughout her entire life, incorporating devotional time in her daily life. Her deeply held Christian beliefs provided her with a quiet strength to accept the trials of life.
Rest in Peace Virginia Ann Struckmann Witthauer.
A funeral service will be celebrated on Monday, October 5th at 1pm at Terrazas Funeral Chapels with Pastor Joseph Gros officiating. Concluding service interment will follow at Fort Bayard National Cemetery where she'll be laid to rest with her husband. Pallbearers are Jerry, Tim, Pete, and Steve Witthauer, David Wynia, and Debbie Witthauer.
Arrangements are with Terrazas Funeral Chapels "Trusted care for the ones you love" ~ 575-537-0777. To send condolences, visit www.terrazasfuneralchapel.com.
