Virginia Dell Cassidy
June 6, 1923 - January 6, 1994
Virginia Dell Cassidy was born in the Ebenezer Community near Bodcaw (Nevada County), Arkansas on June 6, 1923, the daughter of Eldridge and Edith Grisham Cassidy. She went to Hope High School.
Virginia married William Jefferson Blythe III of Sherman, Texas, who was killed in an automobile accident in mid-1946. Three months after the fatal accident on August 14, 1946, their son, William Jefferson Blythe IV was born at the Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas.
Virginia began a new career and trained as a nurse anesthetist in Shreveport and New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduation, she landed a few jobs and took on private duty work at the various hospitals. In the meantime, she left her son with her parents, who lived at 117 South Hervey in Hope. The boy attended Miss Mary Perkins Kindergarten on East Second Street and first grade at Brookwood Public School.
On June 19, 1950, Virginia married Roger Clinton. They resided at 312 East Thirteenth Street in Hope before moving to Hot Springs, Arkansas in the fall of 1953. Virginia and Roger's child, Roger Cassidy Clinton, was born July 25, 1956, at Ouachita Hospital in Hot Springs.
Virginia's husband Roger never adopted "Billy," even though "Billy" changed his last name to Clinton when he was 15. Bill graduated from Lakeside High School in Hot Springs in 1964 and went to college at Georgetown University and then Oxford University (as a Rhodes Scholar) in 1969. Bill's jobs included the teaching of law courses, Attorney General of the State of Arkansas, Governor of the State of Arkansas, and President of the United States.
Virginia's husband Roger died in 1967. In 1969, Virginia married George Jefferson Dwire, but they had no children. He died in 1974. Virginia's last marriage was to Dick Kelley in 1982. They lived in Hot Springs, Arkansas where she died in her sleep on January 6, 1994, after a long battle with cancer. Virginia was buried January 8, 1994, at Rose Hill cemetery in Hope, Arkansas beside her first husband, William Jefferson Blythe III.
Additional resources:
Virginia Dell Cassidy Blythe Clinton Dwire Kelley at Wikipedia
William Jefferson Blythe, Jr. at Wikipedia
William Jefferson Blythe Clinton, III at Wikipedia
Roger Clinton, Sr. at Wikipedia
Roger Clinton, Jr. at Wikipedia
Jeff Dwire at Wikipedia
As of 8-1-2016, no reference for Dick Kelley at Wikipedia
Content of this article was researched by Donna Wingfield and adapted by Danny Stewart.