Virginia Mack

Virginia Beverly Elena Mack, beloved matriarch and literary scholar, died peacefully at home surrounded by her family in Ellensburg, WA, on Friday, January 17, 2025. Born in the small town of Lilesville, North Carolina, the daughter of Ellen Humphrey Beverly, a teacher, and James Neal Beverly, a sawmill owner, Virginia grew up the eldest of six siblings. Over the course of her eighty years, Virginia tamed and married a wild moose, earned two master’s degrees and a PhD, educated over ten thousand university students, raised two perfect daughters with her Moose, and was the best grandmother imaginable to her two (also perfect) grandchildren.

Family and Taming

Moose Mack could never resist intelligent, ebullient women. Include the red hair, and it all became obvious in 1965. Virginia Elena Beverly accepted the name Red Fox and was addressed as Fox, Foxer, and Red for the next 60 years. Whoever would have thought that a meeting in South Carolina between a Jewish Yankee and a native Methodist from a small southern town would incur a 60-year relationship? 

They were magically joined by two daughters, Alexandra in 1978 and Rachel in 1985, making the initial crew complete. To her eldest daughter, Alexandra, Virginia will be remembered as the toughest person she has ever met and the woman to whom she owes credit for all her best attributes as a mother. To her youngest daughter, Rachel, Virginia will be remembered as the woman who raised her to take no crap, to fiercely love and be loved by her people, and to let passion direct her life path. To her grandchildren Elizabeth and Maxwell, she was an endless source of love and patience who never missed an opportunity to celebrate a milestone, whether it was wiggling a toe for the first time, reading an entire NYT article, or instinctually rolling their eyes at one of their grandfather’s terrible jokes.

Virginia brought love, intellectual thought, patience, and humor to this family. She also grounded them in treating things that were important as important and things that were funny as funny. Add to that a sense of loyalty and belonging to all the people to whom they were related or had befriended. 

Virginia’s civilizing influence positively affected the behavior of her siblings, her husband, her two daughters, and her grandchildren. Without her, the family would be living in caves and communicating in grunts. Her kindness to all rubbed off on the whole family.

Career, Education, and Social Responsibility

An unwavering champion of the underdog, equal rights, and education for all, Virginia held steadfast support for a number of intellectual and political positions. This was manifested as early as 1964 when she and her mother sang “We Shall Overcome” to hooded klansmen who were attempting to burn a cross in front of the family home – one of many failed attempts to frighten Virginia and her mother from their work to dismantle segregation in the local school system. She was a lifelong supporter of women’s rights, as exemplified by her resumption of wearing her ERA pin during the last year of her life.

Virginia was a passionate scholar with a Master of Adult Education from Colorado State University, a Master of English Literature from Central Washington University (CWU), and a Doctorate of Irish Literature from University College Dublin, Ireland. She was a Professor of English, Director of the CWU Honors College, and Director of the CWU McNair Scholars Program. She taught in English literature departments of four other institutions, both domestic and overseas. Former students frequently share stories of how her personal attention profoundly changed their lives.

Travel

Her ardor for travel and adventure extended across all her years. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, she left her home and sequentially lived in Oklahoma City, OK; Denver, CO; Fort Collins, CO; Ellensburg, WA; London, England; Dublin, Ireland; Oak Ridge, TN; Muncie, IN; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Hong Kong, China; and Pécs, Hungary. The family always returned to Ellensburg, WA, where their mutual employer gladly tolerated their absences.

Somehow, there was a balance between Moose’s visits to industrial archaeological sites and her interest in literary settings. She tolerated Moose’s travel penuriousness well, exemplified by their once hitchhiking 4000 miles in Europe, driving cross country in a $25 Nash Ambassador, and staying overnight in a German hearse. Her passports contain over 30 entries each into Great Britain, Ireland, China, and France, along with entry visas from some 40 other countries.

Virginia is survived by her very own Moose, Richard Mack; her daughters, Rachel Mack and Alexandra Katzenstein; her brothers, Wayne Beverly and Jesse Beverly; and her grandchildren, Elizabeth and Maxwell.

She will be missed by all. Hers was a wonderful life.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, February 22, from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the IOOF Lodge (Odd Fellows), 307 N Pine St, Ellensburg, WA 98926. Please RSVP to celebratered2025@gmail.com 

In place of flowers, please consider donating to any of these organizations in her honor

League of Women Voters

American Civil Liberties Union

Anti Defamation League

Planned Parenthood

The Parkinson’s Foundation