Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

On Nov. 20, 1926, a blond, blue-eyed baby girl was born to John and Elizabeth Krom at the farm home on Alkali Flat, south of Dusty, Wash. They named her Virginia Helen. She was the fourth in a row of six daughters.

Virginia attended the Zaring Country School for two years until the district consolidated with the LaCrosse School District. She graduated from LaCrosse High School in 1944. Following graduation, she attended Central Washington College at Ellensburg on a voice scholarship with hopes of training for the opera. But things changed when her Marine sweetheart returned from overseas,...