Virgie Thorpe Manley

Virgie Thorpe Manley, eldest child of the late Curtis Sr, and Mildred Thorpe, was born February 12, 1934, In Granville County, North Carolina. She transitioned from earth to glory on May 15, 2025. Virgie was born on her grandma Rosa Thorpe’s family farm and moved with her family to the Smith land, on Aaron Creek Church Rd, where they farmed tobacco for many years. At around 11yrs.old, she accepted Christ and joined the Aaron Creek Baptist Church. She attended school in the Granville County Public School System and graduated in 1952 from the Joe Toler H.S. in Oxford, N.C. After a year at Elizabeth City College, she left North Carolina for the big city (Baltimore), where she met and married Barent Argentina Manley. To their union one child was born, Joyce Ann. Virgie joined the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in the 1950’s and attended the Baltimore School of the Bible. She served as a senior usher until relocating to N.C. in 1992. Virgie worked more than 30 years at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She initially worked in nursing service, until she attended Howard Community College to become a phlebotomist and continued working in the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center until her retirement in 1992. She retired back home to Oxford to care for her parents and returned to the Aaron Creek Church. She worked faithfully in the church and community. Regularly, she shared vegetables from the garden with her family and neighbors. She cared for the sick and elderly over many years. She loved to cook and feed folks. Her door was always open at “Motel 96” (what we called her log cabin home). In the early 2000’s, she joined Cornerstone Christian Community Church, where she served fervently, worked in the nursing home ministry and was known to all as “Mother Virgie”. In 2014, Mother Virgie returned to Maryland for health reasons and joined the Southern Baptist Church of Baltimore. She also remained faithful to the ministry of her “home church” Cornerstone until her passing, through special fellowship, online worship, and regular phone calls and visits. She is preceded in death by her husband, Barent A. Manley, her sister Dorothy Price, and brothers Vinston and Curtis Jr. Virgie leaves to cherish her memory: one child, Joyce Ann Smith (Henry) of Perryville, Maryland, two granddaughters Carla Johnson (James)and Octavia Johnson, three grandchildren Mia, Justan and Jerrod; her brother Willie Thorpe (Mary), her sister Delilah Alston (Roger), bother-in-law Dee Price, sisters-in-law(s) Genevia Thorpe, Janice Alston (James), and Annie Pulley. One Godchild, Dorothy Moore (Robert) and Spiritual daughters, Phyllis Griffin (Charles) and Pastor Teresa Betts (Phillip); and a host of relatives and friends and the whole Manley Family.

Tributes

Virgie Thorpe Manley

February 12, 1934 - May 15, 2025