Virgil Harlan, age 97, passed away at the Walsh Healthcare Center in Walsh, CO, on Wednesday, May 7, 2019.  Her husband was Leon Harlan and their children are Shirley, Gayle and Karen.

Virgil was the youngest of five children of Jim and Mamie (Holt) McKinnis. Her sisters and brothers were…Irene, Mildred (who went by "Sis"), James and Roy.  She was born on February 9, 1922, in a relative's home in Uniontown, Kansas.  The family actually lived in Stonington, CO.  However, due to the fact that both James, age 2, and Irene, age 7, died in Stonington in 1920 and 1921, Mamie didn't want Virgil born there.  Therefore, the family traveled back to Uniontown and stayed with family from September 1921 until after Virgil's birth.

In 1916, Virgil's Dad worked for the Colorado State Bank in Stonington.  When the railroad came to Walsh in 1926, several businesses and families moved to Walsh.  The bank and Jim and Mamie's house were moved to Walsh on flat bed trailers pulled by several teams of horses.  The move took several days.  It took a full day to turn one corner on the old road from Stonington.  There is a photo of the bank being moved as described on page 154 of the Baca County History Book published in 1983.

Virgil was a member of the first, first-grade class to attend the new Walsh Public School building which was established in 1928.  The family were "Charter Members" of the Walsh United Methodist Church, which also had its start the same year.

Virgil grew up as a "Tom Boy".  She loved milking cows, doing outside chores, having a steer in 4-H, playing the alto sax in band and playing basketball.    She was the Captain of her basketball team her freshman year. In her junior year, she was elected Broomcorn Queen.  Walsh was the Broomcorn Capital of the World at that time.

One time, she and her friends were planning an activity at the creek.  They decided to invite Leon Harlan from Vilas to join them.  He had a car and they needed one more vehicle to get everyone there. While playing leap frog, she leaned down on one side as he leapt over her and that sent him face first into the dirt.  She had no idea why she did such a thing.  Come to find out, that was the first time she had really noticed Leon.  However, he said he had noticed her about a year earlier.  Eventually, they began dating and the rest is history.

After graduating from Walsh High School in 1940, she went to the University of Colorado in Boulder.  However, she was like a fish out of water. Her college career lasted only one week.  She quickly decided college and large cities were not what she wanted.  She returned home to Walsh and lived there her entire life.

Long story short, after a relatively short courtship, Leon and Virgil decided to get married.  She knew Leon was going to "pop the question".  However, she said, "I didn't help him out one bit.  I figured this was something he needed to do himself."  She had never seen him sweat so much and take so many deep breaths during the minutes it took him to get up the nerve to ask her to marry him.  "Their song" became "Wabash Cannon Ball."  Unusual, yes, but that was the song that came on the radio at the time he finally spit out those four little words, "Will you marry me?"

They were married on Thanksgiving Day 1942.  Their parents knew they were planning to be married but didn't know the date.  The two of them went to the Justice of the Peace in Johnson, Kansas, where the nervous groom requested the shortest ceremony available.  On the drive back to Walsh, he realized he had not yet given her the wedding ring.  She laughed and told him, "You didn't ask for the ceremony that included that."  Leon stopped the car and put the wedding ring on Virgil's finger.  Then they headed to Walsh and Vilas to share their news with family and friends!

The newlyweds had planned to stay at the Oasis Hotel on Main Street until they could get their first home ready but Virgil's Dad insisted that they live with them until their place was livable.  They started out in a four-room house near town of Minneapolis, north of their eventual farm one mile east of Walsh.  They used two rooms to live in and raised baby chicks in the other two rooms.  They had no indoor plumbing or electricity.  A few months after "roughing it" they rented a small house in Walsh. Having the comforts of home, especially including water and sewer, became more necessary!   Their first daughter, Shirley, was born in 1943.  Shortly after, Virgil's brother, Roy, age 23, was killed in a night military training mission in a P-70 aircraft.  She and Roy were very close and it was a devastating loss to her and the entire family.  The accident left her with only one living sibling, Sis, who was six years older.  They were very close until Sis's death in 2004.

By the time their second daughter, Gayle, arrived in 1945, the little family had built a bigger house at the corner of Highway 160 and Ohio Street…#444 Ohio Street to be exact.  In 1946, Leon bought "interest in" the Harlan/Thompson Chevrolet Company.  They eventually sold their shares and traded in their Ohio Street home for 640 acres of land joining the east side of Walsh. In 1948, they moved to the farm. Their third daughter, Karen, was born in 1950.  They were thrilled with their little family and it was now complete.

During those farm years, they raised cattle, pigs, and chickens, had a few horses and farmed…raising broomcorn, wheat, milo and corn.  They even tried their hand at raising chinchillas but tired of that rather quickly.  Leon also did some custom harvesting.  Virgil was deeply involved in it all, including cooking for broomcorn hands and taking meals to the fields as well as helping with chores, farming, mothering, etc.

They worked hard and played hard…the girls remember the weekly Saturday night dances at Two Buttes, where they enjoyed good old country music and learned how to dance.  Every August, Leon took his family on a week's vacation…most often to Denver for school clothes shopping and to enjoy the sights.  Other than that, they pretty much kept their nose to the grindstone.

In addition to working as a teller at the Colorado State Bank, Virgil also kept books for the Walsh Lumber Company.  Eventually Leon and Virgil bought Walsh Lumber.  For several of those years, they were parts dealers for Massey Ferguson combines and equipment.  They later sold the lumber yard and concentrated on farming.  Virgil was an awesome farm hand; she was a very hard worker and loved every minute of it.

Leon and Virgil enjoyed square dancing and bowling in the winter.  They took a few trips to Hawaii with Karen, Glen and family, which they enjoyed very much, but would never have gone on their own. They took one trip overseas to visit Shirley's family in Scotland.  Leon, Virgil, Shirley and Bill went from there on a trip to Europe. They had some very unique funny experiences.  Other than visiting the girls and their families when they lived away from Walsh, Leon and Virgil were happiest when they were home.

Virgil's favorite thing to do, when she wasn't working, was supporting her three daughters and later her grandchildren and great-grandchildren in all their activities. She loved watching them participate in tap dancing, sports, band, 4-H and any and all activities.

In retirement, she really enjoyed keeping the highway ditches mowed on the first mile east of town on both sides of the road.  The county really appreciated that and sure noticed when Virgil had to quit because of age-related issues.  They spent most of the rest of their lives together on the farm until they chose to go to the Walsh Healthcare Center.

After over 67 years of marriage, Leon passed away in 2010.  Their daughter, Gayle, joined him in 2011.  We know there was a great reunion there on May 7.

Preceding Virgil in death, in addition to Leon and Gayle, were her parents, Jim and Mamie McKinnis; all of her older siblings, Irene, James, Sis and Roy; Glen McCall, son-in-law; and all of her Harlan in-laws.

Survivors include: Shirley (Bill) Stoner, Karen McCall, son-in-law, Erroll Cook, and wife Peggy all of Walsh, CO; 10 grandchildren… Debbie (Mike) Iverson, Las Vegas, NV; Michae l (Missy) Stoner of Golden, CO; Kelly (David) Reyes of Aurora, CO; and Jodi (James) Yager of Scott City, KS; Chad (Kristi) Cook, Brent (Heather) Cook; Brad (Kristen) Cook all of Walsh; Shawna (Bruce) Nottingham, Colorado Springs, CO; Steve McCall, Chris (Kaylea) McCall of Walsh; 21 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great-grandchildren; two first cousins, Charles McKinnis of Sandia, NM and Betty Ruth (Smith) White of Uniontown, KS, and many nieces and nephews.

Note:

Virgil was buried beside her beloved husband, Leon, in the Walsh Cemetery on May 13, 2019.  The family suggested in lieu of flowers, Memorial Contributions be made to the Walsh Ambulance Fund or to the Charity of Your Choice.