With great sadness, we announce the passing of Virginia L. (Lawhorn, Smolik) Gerou, 98, formerly of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on April 15, 2025, following an extended illness in Green Valley, Arizona.

She was born on March 15, 1927, in Manly, Iowa, the daughter of the late William Absolum and Helen Mae (Cassel) Lawhorn. Virginia married Henry Smolik, the father of her two daughters, on March 15, 1944, and later married Ronald Gerou on March 3, 1956.

Virginia resigned from Kenosha National Bank and moved to Tucson, Arizona, with her husband in 1969. She was a talented ceramicist and artist who made beautiful paintings.

One of her most exciting moments was when Virginia, her daughter Cheryl Gruber, and granddaughter Colleen Manzo appeared on the cover of Time magazine's August 30, 2004 issue, "How to Live To Be 100." She almost made it!

Virginia is survived by her daughters Cheryl (Paul) Gruber and Sandra Patsis; her grandchildren Frank Gruber, Colleen (Alex) Manzo, and Sheldon (Diane) Lewis; six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild; and her siblings Jo Ann Brown and Donna Chaney. 

She was preceded in death by her husbands, Ronald Gerou and Henry P. Smolik; her brothers, Gary Lawhorn and William Lawhorn; her sisters, Sharon Lawhorn, Juanita Schweda, and Darlene Uelmen; and her grandchildren, Bruce Lewis and Thayer Lewis.

She will rest alongside her loving husband at East Lawn Palms Mortuary and Cemetery.