Virginia P. Moody Spurling Robbins

AUGUSTA – Virginia was the first born of Clarence and Marion Moody’s eight children. Known to many as “Ginny”; to those closest to her she was Mom, Gram, or Aunt. She lived the daily struggle of a rural farm through the depression and then the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation. She raised a “Baby Boomer” family to believe in the American Dream. As a child she drove a horse and wagon to work at hard labor in the fields, yet she saw men walk on the Moon, and used a cell phone and tablet in the electronic age. Work came at a too early age and never really stopped. As a young girl she was sent from the family farm to labor for “room and board” with better off relatives “in town”. Most of her adult life she was employed in Gardiner’s factories spraying shoes as “piece work” paid, literally, pennies a shoe. After that industry disappeared, she worked at Digital Corp. and Goggin’s IGA. Only the inevitable frailties of advanced age (and the not too easily accepted loss of driving freedom) finally kept her home. Denied the opportunity for even a high school education as a child, she quietly went to night classes in her 50’s and earned a “real diploma” from Gardiner Area High School Adult Ed. When asked why the effort at a time in her life when it could make no economic difference, she said “if my children can go to college, I can finish High School”. Character and stubbornness were just two of her qualities always in good supply.She enjoyed Daniel O’Donnell concerts with her devoted youngest sister Mary, knitting anything knittable for the Grands and her Church. Still, she loved nothing quite as much as home time, especially Sunday dinners, with her children and theirs. No matter what the economic circumstances, her door was always open and there was a place at the table, even a bed, for everyone, family or not. Generosity was her nature but what she gave of most was her heart. She is survived by her three children and their families: C.H. (Skip) Spurling of East Pittston, his son Christopher and Chris’ fiancé Jaimie of Thomaston; Kerry L. Spurling and wife Cathy of Palermo, his daughter Heidi and her wife Kelly of Newton Mass., daughter Katie Michaud and her sons Cameron, Sean and Evan of Gardiner, his son Cory, wife Brandi and children Averi and Aiden of East Pittston. Her daughter Sharon Gleason and husband Mel of East Pittston, their children: Richard and Michele Malinowski of Gorham their children Kaitlynn of Nashville, Nicholas of East Pittston, and Nathan; Kerri Malinowski-Farris of Pittston, husband Jason and children Ewan, Mathew, and Donovan; Mandy and Peter Bucknam and children Wyatt and Walker of Sidney; Melanie and Ralph Hendrix and sons Dylan and Adam of Mercer. For you all she lived by a singular, guiding, unyielding principle, Family First. Carry the torch. She is also survived by siblings Mary Hurley of Richmond; Dana and Pam Moody of East Pittston; Geneva McKay of Edgecomb, Lucille Morgan of Augusta and all their children; Grandson Robert Dorr his wife Kelly, their children Joshua, Emma, and McKenzie of Brunswick; granddaughter Renee McDonald, her husband Reid and their children Keenan and Ethan of Iowa; special nephew Robert Moody Jr. and pseudo-daughter Sheila Thayer. She was pre-deceased by husbands Royce J. Spurling and Richard R. Robbins; her parents; brothers Robert C. and Herbert Moody; sisters Mildred and Ann Moody; son-in-law Martin E. Malinowski and her devoted, adoring daughters-in-law Lola Ellis Spurling and Cathy Verhille Spurling who all left us far too soon. Services will be at the United Methodist Church of East Pittston, rt 194 Pittston, Maine, where she was a lifelong, active member, on March 19th, 2022, at 2:00 pm. Visitation will be from 1:00 pm. A celebration of life will be held in the Church community room immediately after the service. You are encouraged to bring your best memories of this extraordinary woman and cheerfully share them with all at that time. Interment will be in Whitefield cemetery in the spring.Arrangements are in the care of the Staples Funeral Home, 53 Brunswick Ave, Gardiner where memories, condolences and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of our website at http://www.familyfirstfuneralhomes.com.In lieu of flowers please donate to the Cathy Verhille Spurling Scholarship Fund at Gardiner Area High School. Send your donation to MSAD 11, 150 Highland Avenue, Gardiner, Me. 04345 made out to Cathy Verhille Spurling Fund in Memory of Ginny Robbins.