A celebration of life for Virgia Myrtle Parsons, age 96, of West Monroe will be held at 2:00 PM Sunday, October 21 at Kilpatrick Funeral Home in West Monroe with Bro. Jerry Chapman and Bro. Mickey Hudnall officiating. Interment will follow the service at Roselawn Memorial Gardens in Calhoun. The family will receive friends from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM on Saturday, October 20 and from 12:00 until service time on Sunday. Mother Mamaw, Granny, Big Mawmaw passed from this earthly life to be with her Heavenly Father on Thursday, October 18, at Glenwood Regional Medical Center. She was born on June 16, 1911, in Huntsville, Alabama, to Ida and John Wesley Hosch. She had six siblings and eight step-siblings, all who have predeceased her. She married Vardie Parsons in September of 1929, and they moved to Cheniere, LA, for Dad to begin a nursery business. Together they worked to rear their six children. Mom≠s family has always been the center of her life. She has taught strong family values and good moral character by example. Because of her passion for plants and flowers and her love of the outdoors, she remained active in gardening, maintaining her lawn and flowerbeds, and rooting plants from her cuttings until her health prevented her doing so in the past couple of years. One of her greatest joys was to share the fruits of her labors with her many friends and family members. She would share produce from her garden, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peas, and butterbeans. She has shared her special technique for growing delicious tomatoes with others, many of whom have patterned their gardens after hers. Her picture and her special technique for growing tomatoes was published in the national magazine Birds and Blooms. Because her father had fought the Civil War, she was named an honorary member of the Daughters of the Confederacy. Mom was predeceased by her husband, Vardie Parsons; two daughters, Shirley Parsons and Sharon Graves; grandson, Carlton Wayne Cory; great-grandson, Joshua Parsons; great-grandson, Orion Busch; and son-in-law, Lloyd Clement. Surviving Mom to cherish her memory are four church children; George Parsons and wife Beth; Thelma Clement; Billie Owens and husband Leon, and Lynn Parsons. Mamaw has twelve grandchildren: Layne Parsons and wife Vickie, Lonn Parsons, Lauren Bokel, Linda Smith and husband Marque, Ann Byrd, Frieda Hunt and husband David, Linda Clement, Gayle Causey, Karen Merritt and husband Roger, Kathy Rogers and husband David, Dawn Pearman and husband Josh, and Matt Graves and wife Jennifer. Granny also has nineteen great-grandchildren; Noah Parsons, Simon Parsons, Amanda Merritt, Elizabeth Falcon, Brandy Busch and husband Nick, Lucas Byrd, Jeremy Cathey, Chris Cathey and wife Selena, Jory Stegall, Christopher Smith, Jennifer Bankston, Collin Smith, Katie Rogers, Callie Rogers, Renee Platt, D.J. Platt, J.K. McCoy, Mallory Graves, and Jaylynn Graves. Big Mawmaw has seven great-great-grandchildren: Alyssa Falcon, Mason Cathey, Mikela Cathey, Zane Cathey, Ranie Stegall, Skylar Stegall, and Harmony Busch. Mom was blessed to be loved by four church families: Clark Springs Baptist, West Heights Missionary Baptist, First Baptist of Lake Providence, and First Baptist of Calhoun. Pallbearers will be Layne Parsons, Lonn Parsons, David Hunt, Marque Smith, David Rogers, Roger Merritt, Josh Pearman and Matt Graves. Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Chris Hattaway, Dennis Jones, Ewell Camp, Ken Baker, the deacons of Clark Springs Baptist Church, and the deacons of West Heights Misssionary Baptist. Our family would like to say a very special ¨thank you to the doctors and nurses of the Louisiana Extended Care Hospital, Glenwood Regional Medical Center, and St. Francis Specialty Hospital who took such kind and compassionate care of Mom during her extended illness.