Virginia Christenbery McFadden, born on May 9, 1918 in Knoxville, the daughter of Dr. William Frederick “W.F.” and Rosamond Lee Clark Christenbery, passed away at Tennova Residential Hospice in Knoxville on April 13, Palm Sunday, at the age of 95.

Virginia is a descendant of the Christenbery family that lived in the Wheat community in Oak Ridge before the creation of the Manhattan Project. Many of her relatives are buried outside the George Jones Memorial Church, known locally as “the Wheat Church.”

Virginia was a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and was pursuing a master’s degree in home economics when she met her husband, William Steele McFadden. After a two-week courtship, they began their 70-year marriage, which ended in March of 2010 when he passed away at age 97. She helped him grow a family construction business and served as his accountant, partner, cheerleader, member of his building crew, rental property agent, and mother of four children.

They were active members in Fountain City Presbyterian Church for many years where she sang in the choir and occasionally played the music for services. [Read more…]