[obits] Strother, Shirley C. Farrier

Shirley C. Farrier Strother, 96, of Blacksburg, died Friday, April 3, 2020, at Showalter Assisted Living Center in Warm Hearth Village.

She was born in Glade Spring, Va., on December 6, 1923, to the late John F. and Lucille Mock Copenhaver. She attended public school in Washington County, Va. and continued her education at Hiwassee College, Radford University, VPI & SU and the University of Virginia.

She taught in the Giles County Public Schools for six years and was a member of the faculty at Virginia Tech in the Family and Child Development program from 1959 until her retirement in 1989. She served as a co-leader of the study abroad program in Finland sponsored by the College of Human Resources at VT in the 1970s. During her tenure at Virginia Tech, Shirley received the Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising.

Shirley was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents; by her first husband, Robert H. Farrier, in 1986, and by her second husband, Warren H. Strother, in 2006; her sister and brother-in-law, Jane C. and William G. Buckley; her brother, John F. Copenrhaver, Jr.; and a son-in-law, Heikki Helve.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Helen F. (Ake-Eric) Renqvist of Newport, Va.; her son and daughter-in-law, Robert H. (Ursula) Farrier of Edinburgh, Scotland; her sister-in-law, Rosella Copenhaver, of Kingsport, Tenn.; a step-daughter, Sue Anne Seckora (Michael) of Hillsboro, Ore.; step-sons Keith Strother (Sue) of Riverside, Calif., and David Strother (Sharon) of Midlothian, Va.. her grandchildren, Piia Helve of Hyattsville, Md., George Robert Renqvist (Jenna) and great-grandson, Leif of Pittsburgh, Penn., Liam Farrier of Edinburgh, Scotland; her step-grandchildren, Annika F. Hannah and Jamie Ferguson of Scotland, Bryan Strother of Virginia, and Logan Strother of California; and various nieces and nephews.

The family expresses their deep gratitude to the staff of the Showalter Center and Carilion Clinic Hospice.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Blacksburg United Methodist Church, the Newport Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church, Warm Hearth Village, or to your favorite New River Valley charity. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.