Adele Booker Waller

Adele Victoria Booker Waller, eldest daughter of the late Leslie Holmes Booker and Eva Lee Jackson Booker and widow of Robert Edward Waller, Jr., died Saturday, October 15, 2011, aged 99 years, 9 months and 6 days. She was predeceased by a devoted daughter-in-law, Helen Warden Waller; nine brothers, Gilbert, Herman, William, Jesse, Thomas, Leslie, Otha, Daniel, and Gerald Booker; and four sisters, Louise Cousins, Ruth Jones, Mary Piller, and Eva McCracken. Her survivors include one sister, Myrtle Fore of Altavista; two sons, John Waller of Hurt and Joe Bill (Kaye) Waller of Gastonia, NC; one daughter, Jacqueline Asbury of Lynchburg; four grandsons, David (Amy) Asbury of Charlotte, NC, Hunt (Debbie) Asbury of Lynchburg, Robert (Amy) Waller and Sam (Cheryl) Waller of Hurt; nine great-grandchildren, Rachel Frischisen, Wyatt, Cole, Austin, Walter and Emily Asbury, and Maci, Dylan and LeeAnn Waller; a close family friend and almost-third son, Julian Shelton; one brother-in-law, Philip Waller; five sisters-in-law, Joyce and Doris Booker, Jettie Waller, Clara Davis and Margaret Wright; a loyal former son-in-law, Lee Asbury of Lynchburg; as well as many nieces and nephews and other relatives and friends. She was a lifelong member of Edge Hill Baptist Church, having taught Sunday School for more than sixty years and where she regularly provided flowers for Sunday services just as her own grandmother did at this same church. Possessed of amazing grace and eternal optimism, she was loved by everyone and adored by her four grandsons. She was most at home in the red clay soil of Pittsylvania County with her favorite pastime being digging in that dirt and watching plants grow and flowers bloom. Gifts of seeds, plants and rosebushes were her special treasures and she always remembered the giver of each. She was a wonderful cook with her supreme achievement being desserts. They were the very best. No family member has forgotten the whine of the ice cream freezer as peach ice cream was churning to perfection on the screen porch on hot Sundays in July. A competing favorite were the fried dried apple pies made from apples from the farm. She earned a teaching certificate from Harrisonburg State Teachers College (now James Madison University) in 1931 and taught at several one and two-room schools in Pittsylvania County prior to her marriage. In later years, she continued to be pleased when meeting these former students and hearing about their fond memories of her teaching. She was an astute business woman, gardener, and dairy farmer and her careful management of resources laid the foundation for what is now Waller Farms. A graveside service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at Altavista Memorial Park by the Rev. Billy Robertson and the Rev. Chris Brooks. The family will receive friends from 7-8:30 p.m., Monday at Finch & Finch Funeral and Cremation Service. Flowers are certainly welcome as well as donations to Edge Hill Baptist Church, 4321 Level Run Rd., Hurt, VA 24563 or Autumn Care of Altavista, 1317 Lola Ave., Altavista, VA 24517, her home for the past four years and where she received loving and compassionate care for which the family is forever grateful.

Adele Booker Waller

January 9, 1912 - October 15, 2011