Author Biography: Virginia Neely was born Virginia Lechelt November 20, 1909 in Milwaukie, Oregon. She is a member of a large family which descended from pioneering people. When the Lechelts first came to North America, they settled in a German community in Mennesota. Virginia's maternal grandfather, Fred Birkenmeier, came west to Oregon in 1878 and a year later he built a house in Milwaukie, which at that time was mostly covered with virgin timber. The now-modern hme still stands.
She spent most of her youth in eastern Washington where her father farmed in various licalities. She graduated from high school at the beginning of the Depression and went to work at whatever jobs were available. She preferred to love in communities new to her. This preference eventually led her to alaska.
She and her husband now live in their country home in Oregon's Willamette Valley. They still occasionally travel to Alaska. |
