Virginia I. Rice

Virginia Irene (Gardner) Rice, 91, passed peacefully from this world on Saturday, June 24, 2023, with family at her side. Virginia was born in Warwick, RI in 1931, to father Robert F. Gardner and mother Nellie (Newcomb) Gardner. Her family moved to Springfield, MA when she was a baby. She attended Park Street and Immaculate Conception elementary schools in West Springfield and graduated from Cathedral High in Springfield in 1949. Before marriage she was trained as an early IBM keypunch operator at Wico Electric in West Springfield. She married Charles P. Rice in 1952 and had three children. She later worked as a nurse’s aide at West Springfield Nursing Home for five years and Mont Marie Infirmary for thirteen years. Virginia was interested in art, arts and crafts, was an avid reader and loved Cape Cod and Gloucester, but her children and their children were the focus of her life. Virginia’s husband Charles passed away in 2020. Virginia’s brother Robert F. Gardner II is also deceased. Virginia leaves her brother Earle Gardner Sr., three children; Sheryle (Rice, Marceau) Bixler and her spouse Robert Bixler, Charles Rice and his spouse Jue Wang-Rice, Tracy (Rice) Forgue and her spouse Michael Forgue, six grandchildren, Michael Marceau (Erica), Ryan Marceau (Michelle), Brendan Marceau (Halli), Nathan Forgue (Leah), Mikayla Forgue (Joshua), Justin Forgue and four great grandchildren, Julian, Elliot and Adrian Marceau, and Sophia Sikorski, as well as three nephews; Earle Gardner Jr., Robert F. Gardner III and Sean Gardner. The family would like to thank Mont Marie Rehab and Hospice of Western and Central MA for their kind and compassionate care during Virginia’s last weeks, especially Yvonne, Kate, Jaimie and Julie. Special thanks to Josh (grandson in law) for his watchful care of Virginia for the night shifts. Services will be private and at the convenience of the family. Toomey O’Brien Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959.