Virginia Cooper Madden

Virginia Madden, 90, of Brewster, Washington, went home to be with her Savior on Monday March 14, 2016 in Mesa, Arizona. Her oldest daughter, Theresa, was by her side. Virginia Mae Cooper was born on November 11, 1925 to Gertrude and Lee Cooper at home, 1 mile south of Brewster on the McKinley Ranch. She was the youngest of their three living children. At age 13, she received Christ as her personal Savior. Virginia grew up in Pateros with her sister and brother Claire and Cal, and graduated from Pateros High School in 1944 as Valedictorian. She went on to earn a degree in Bacteriology and Public Health from WSC (now WSU) in 1948. She worked at Richland GE in the Botany department identifying diatoms. She hand drew the diatoms, which the doctors would then use to determine the amount of radiation in the water. In 1949, she married Blaine Madden and they moved to Tucson, AZ where Blaine worked as Ag specialist for the U of A. They then moved to Casa Grande as Blaine continued working with the Ag department and also farmed cotton for 1 year. After this, Blaine and Virginia moved back to Washington and began their lifetime of farming apples, gardening, and raising their 5 children. 1978, Virginia began painting, which brought out her natural artistic ability. Painting with oil and watercolor blossomed into a passion for her for many years. Her collection of paintings was in the hundreds and she continued to sell her artwork (made into stationary cards) at the farmers market every Friday in Mesa. In 1983, Blaine and Virginia started teaching English as a Second Language (which replaced the Labach method) and helped many immigrants from Mexico, Japan, Poland, and other countries to learn our language, while making wonderful lifetime friends. In 2000, she underwent a miraculous open lung surgery at the University of Washington Hospital. Her pulmonary artery had become completely filled with blood clots, and by God’s grace, with several hours of intricate surgery, after 12 days, she finally woke up and completely recovered to enjoy 15 more years with her family. Her story was in the University of Washington Hospital’s annual report of miracles. Virginia and Blaine enjoyed spending their winters at the Mesa Spirit RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona, where they had many friends and attended Brown Road Baptist Church. After Blaine’s death in 2011, Virginia continued to make the journey down to Arizona every November to enjoy the warm weather, friends, and lifestyle that she had come to love. Through the years, she loved her Savior Jesus Christ, her family and relatives, along with many, many friends. She attended Calvary Baptist Church and helped with the kids’ Bible Camp and served in Bible teaching and with crafts at Vacation Bible School. She never stopped gardening, canning, freezing, and drying her produce, and always generously shared the fruits of her labor with everyone. Virginia is survived by her 5 children, Theresa (David) Breckel of Lake Stevens, WA, David Madden of West Richland, WA, Paul (Janice) Madden of Brewster, WA, Phil (Kathy) Madden of Manson, WA, and Becky (Mac) Gebbers of Brewster, WA. She has 14 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandchild. Virginia is preceded in death by her parents, her sister Claire Cooper, her twin brothers, Cordell (who died at birth) and Calvin Cooper, and her husband, Blaine Madden. Visitation for Virginia Madden will be Friday, April 15th from 3-6 PM at Barnes Chapel in Brewster. Services will follow Sunday, April 17th at 3:30 PM at Barnes Chapel.

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Virginia Cooper Madden

November 11, 1925 - March 14, 2016