Brownie Frances Comer Cave spent a century in the pursuit of adventure, wisdom, love, education, and exploration. She was born in the second decade of the 20th century on August 21, 1915, at Ingham, Va., along the banks of the Shenandoah River. She departed this life in the second decade of the 21st century on November 18, 2016, at the spectacular age of 101.

Her parents were Fanny Josephine Baugher Comer and Franklin Pierce Comer, and she was the sixth of 12 children. Her entire life was lived in Page County, Va., in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, which she called the “prettiest place on Earth.”

Education was a hallmark of her family. She attended Grove Hill Elementary School, riding there in a horse-drawn wagon. She graduated from Stanley High School at the age of 16, and along with her eight sisters graduated from Madison College (now JMU). She later earned a master’s degree in Reading from the University of Virginia. She began her teaching career at Stanley School in 1935, and most of her 30-year career was spent there, except for several years at Verona Elementary. Her many students were a joy for her, and she was honored to use her talents to help them. Her teaching skills were also used to coach successful girls basketball teams at Stanley High.

While teaching at Stanley, she met her future husband, Herman Emmett Cave, and they were married on Aug. 12, 1939. Together they raised three daughters, Lois Frame (Don) of Richland, Wash., Suzanne Pettit (Steve) of Winchester, Va., and Rosemary Comer (Garland Jr. deceased) of Shenandoah, Va. Ever the teacher, she shared her love of history and geography on family vacations to all of the contiguous U.S. states and parts of Mexico and Canada.

She was a woman of many talents. She was an amazing seamstress, making tailored dresses and costumes of all types for her girls’ many activities. As a gardener, she planted unusual crops along with the more popular ones and shared her bounty with others. She kept gardening her extensive plot until her late eighties.

As an active community member, she was an integral member of Mount Zion Church of the Brethren where she was a Sunday school teacher, vacation Bible school teacher, church secretary and a member of the ladies group who prepared items for relief to be sent to New Windsor, Md.

She cherished her work with the local PCEA, District G, and was a member of the National Association of Teachers of Reading and attended some of their conferences world wide.

Her husband, Herman Cave, preceded her in death on Sept. 29, 1975. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded by her siblings: Beulah Huffman, Alma Shuler, Claude Comer, Frank Comer Jr., Mary Marcos Kammel, John Comer, Grace Shackelford, Margaret Kupiec, Catherine Nichols and Nellie Robinson.

Those surviving her brought her great joy. Her surviving sister, Peggy Sepsic, lives in McKeesport, Pa. In addition to her daughters and sons-in-law, she is survived by seven grandchildren: Sarah Frame of Chewelah, Wash., Elizabeth Frame of Issaquah, Wash., Jennifer Pettit of Winchester, Va., Catherine Pettit of Salt Lake City, Utah, Kevin Pettit and wife, Amy, of Belchertown, Mass., Jonathan Comer of Shenandoah, Va., and Juliana Thomas and husband, Joe, of Richmond, Va.

Friends and family will gather at Mount Zion Church on Tuesday evening, November 22, 2016 from 6 to 7:30 p.m., and the funeral will be held there on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

To honor her voracious reading and her position as first patron at the William Kibler Library in Stanley, we ask that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the library (P.O. Box 129, 140 Main St., Stanley, VA 22851) or to Mount Zion Church (1177 Mount Zion Road, Luray, VA 22835).

An obituary was published in the Daily News-Record on Tuesday, November 22, 2016.
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