Virginia Carr Durham died May 4, 2009 in Laguna Woods, California at age 83.  Born Virginia Adele Carr in Pasadena, Califorrnia on April 13, 1926, she attended high school in South Pasadena and two years of college at the University of California Santa Barbara.  She married Burnett Kee Maxwell in 1945 and bore two sons.

She survived polio in 1949 when pregnant with her second son and taught herself to walk with crutches for 50 years until finally confined to a wheelchair.  She worked for years as a legal secretary, served briefly as a state inheritance tax appraiser and lived her early adult life in South Gate, California. 

Her first husband died in 1963 and she married Robert Durham in 1969.  After his death in 1979, she lived in San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, and Laguna Woods Village.  She acquired a host of devoted friends and was known for her love of family, gritty determination, good nature and quick wit, bright sense of humor, appreciation for all the joys of life, and kindness to friend and stranger alike.  She lived life to the full and was famous for being ready for any adventure.

Mrs. Durham is survived by her brothers, Robert and Harry Carr; her sons, Bill and Jim Maxwell; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

The Orange County Register, May 8, 2009