Virginia L. Satterlee, 96, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed peacefully Nov. 24 at her residence in Savoy with her close family at her side. Interment and service will be held at Camp Butler, Springfield, on Friday, March 27, 2026 at 11:00 a.m..  

Virginia was born Nov. 19, 1929, in Springfield, the daughter of Kenneth and Mattie Mountz. She married Hugh M. Satterlee on July 31, 1954, in Coffeen IL. He preceded her in death on Sept. 4, 2014. 

Survivors include three sons, Scott (Donna) Satterlee of Hillsboro; Ore., Jeffrey (Maureen) Satterlee of Naperville; Steven (Susan) Satterlee of Paxton;two daughters, Sandra (Jim) deBettencourt of Skokie, IL, and Jennifer (John Fundator) Satterlee of Champaign; 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. 

In the 1980s, Virginia was a well-known and highly regarded quilter, teaching quilting in a downtown Champaign store that is now home to the Jane Addams Book Shop. In 2006, Virginia was inducted into the Land of Lincoln Quilters Association Hall of Fame. She was also a puppeteer/puppet designer and volunteered at South Side School’s library. 

Early in her life, Virginia traveled widely and frequently due to her father’s military career, including several years in Japan, where she graduated from Yokohama High in 1948. Virginia and her husband, Hugh, moved to Champaign in 1968.  

Besides quilting, Virginia was an avid gardener, knitter, and reader, devouring books on wide-ranging topics and genres.  As her eyesight and hands began to fail in her 90s, she took up puzzles, completing 1,000-piece puzzles on a regular basis. Above all, Virginia was a kind friend who will be missed, especially over the Christmas holidays where she loved decorating and organizing a “pickle ornament hunt” that is carried on in various ways by her children and grandchildren. Memorials may be made to the Champaign County Humane Society, where she adopted the last of her many dogs, Lucky Lady.