Virginia Mitchell Neumeyer

Virginia Mitchell Neumeyer was born in Los Angeles, CA on August 8, 1946. She was raised in

Pico Rivera, CA, in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. Despite the fact that Virginia did not speak Spanish,

she understood it, and identified with her Hispanic roots. Upon her first marriage to Frank Shields, she

moved to San Diego, and had her only daughter, Valerie, in 1971.

Virginia was employed by San Diego Unified School District for 15 years as an Instructional Aid.

Her position entailed working with children with learning disabilities to improve their reading and

overall general education. She was elated to hear that her students succeeded in high school and

beyond. She had a special place in her heart for these children.

Later in life, Virginia married her second husband, LD (Lawrence Dwight) Neumeyer, with whom

she remained married for the rest of her days. They moved to Colorado in 2012, and were able to spend

time with grandchildren, Patrick and Victoria. Virginia greatly enjoyed attending school events, sporting

events, holidays and birthdays with her grandchildren.

Through her life, Virginia enjoyed painting, photography, and volunteering at Bear Creek Lake to

monitor wildlife. Moving to Colorado afforded her the ability to visit Rocky Mountain National Park on a

regular basis, and she always relished the opportunity to see elk, deer, moose, and snow, all things

which she was unable to experience in southern California. In addition, she had a passion for researching

genealogy. Virginia fought through the long arduous process of tribal membership with the Chihene Nde

Nation of New Mexico, Chiricahua Apache Band. Through her work, her daughter and grandchildren

now have the designation of tribal membership as well. She will be remembered as a loving mother,

grandmother, wife and friend.

On Thursday, April 11, 2019 Virginia lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. She is survived by her

husband, LD; daughter Valerie Shields Strawbridge; son-in-law Mark Strawbridge; grandson Patrick (18);

granddaughter Victoria(16); and sister Loretta Mitchell Diaz. In lieu of flowers, donations would be

appreciated to the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, (“NPCF”), P.O. Box 1848, Longmont, CO

80502 or online: https://www.npcf.us/donate-volunteer/ways-to-donate/donate. Please include “In

memory of Virginia Mitchell Neumeyer.”