Virgilene Inez Oldham (Harris)

Virgilene “Virgie” Oldham was born on May 1, 1928 in Avoca, IA. She was the oldest of 10 children born to Laura Johnson-Randall and Ted Voss. At a young age, Virgie was adopted by a farming family with her brother Fred. Virgie had lots of happy times with Fred; nonetheless, she always felt that she would have rather missed a few meals instead of being separated from the rest of her family. It is believed that during this time, Virgie’s creative spirit formed, as well as her spirit to fight, her character, work ethic, and her strong convictions about the importance of family. Virgie persevered during the Great Depression and once she was able to live on her own, she lived in many places including, Council Bluffs, IA; Waterloo, NE; Fallon, NV; Joplin, MO; and New Orleans, LA. Once she located her mother, she moved back to the Midwest where she was able to reunite with her siblings, as well as her mother, who lived with Virgie and her husband until she passed away. Virgie was proud to have spent the final years close to her mother, and spoke fondly of her until her passing days. Virgie was a wonderful cook, seamstress, and had an amazing green thumb. She was known well for her homemade bread and sticky buns as well as her fudge and other homemade candies during the holidays. Virgie’s home, inside and out, was always filled with plants. Some of her cacti reached over 6 feet tall. Once they grew to be too large for the house, they were donated to the Henry Doorly Zoo, where Virgie will continue to leave her mark on the Omaha Community. Despite being a mother of eight children, Virgie decided to pursue her lifelong goal of becoming a nurse. Virgie achieved her goal at 46 years of age. Also among her many hobbies and talents, Virgie was lover of dogs, and even bred Boxers for a few years. Among her adored dogs were Duke, Folly, Julio, Ninja, Sally, Chelsea and Jo-Jo. Virgie was also an avid bowler. She competed up until the last year of her life. She taught all of her grandchildren to bowl and was a coach along side her husband James “Jim” Harris Jr. in many bowling leagues. Being married to Jim, who was a very active humanitarian, Virgie was very involved in the community. Sometimes she also spent a lot of time waiting for Jim to return home from his volunteer efforts. On one occasion, her patience paid off, when Jim returned home with a scratch ticket for her worth $50,000, which was shared with many people. Virgie has said that the happiest times of her life were the one’s spent with Jim. Virgie is preceded in death by her mother, Laura Randall, Father Ted Voss, Step-Father Bernard Randall, her brother Bernard Randall Jr., and her late-husband, Charles Oldham Sr. She leaves behind her current husband, Jim Harris; children, Fred Voss, Marvin Gonzalaus, Laura Owens, Pamela Harris, Charles Oldham, James A. Harris III, Coral Harris, and Robert Voss; brother and sisters, Delores, Rose, Shirley, Fred, Phyllis, Vernon “Ossie”, Betty Jean, and Raymond. She also leaves behind lots of nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Virgie touched many lives over the years. She will be greatly missed. Funeral Service 3:00PM Wednesday with Visitation 2 Hours Prior both at Braman MortuaryInurnment 1:00 Thursday Mt Hope CemeteryBraman Mortuary 1702 N 72 StOmaha, NE 68114(402)391-2171