Obituary of Virginia Butterhof

Virginia M. Butterhof (nee Matro), 85, passed away on December 27, 2020, from COVID pneumonia. Virginia, also known as “Ginny” or “Ginger” was born in Elm, NJ, to Anthony and Madeline Matro. She was a devout Catholic and remained faithful to God. She attended St. Joseph’s elementary school and graduated from St. Joseph’s high school in 1953, where she was chosen by classmates to deliver the farewell speech. She made lifetime friendships, enjoying monthly luncheons with her dear Hammonton friends for many years. She was awarded first prize in a statewide contest for authoring the winning essay to promote hiring physically challenged individuals. She played the piano and sang, especially during holiday family gatherings. She could crochet, sew, and needlepoint. Virginia graduated from St. Agnes Hospital’s Medical Laboratory Technician program. She worked at Ancora. A St. Agnes classmate, Catherine “Kate” Butterhof, introduced her brother, Anthony, to Virginia. Despite the overalls and muck boots he was wearing during their first meeting at the Butterhof farm, the refined lover of opera and theater quickly fell in love with the farm boy. They were married in 1962 and settled in Mullica Township, where they raised their three daughters. Virginia’s life focus shifted to mother and homemaker. She was known for her cooking, impeccable housekeeping, and gardening. She was a girl scout leader, CCD teacher, and shuttled her girls to dance and music lessons, attended every recital, concert, marching band competition, sports event, pageant, mock trial competition, and graduation. She coordinated the family summer vacations taken in the station wagon, and could whip up a hot meal at a picnic roadside stop while packing her legendary Lysol spray for the motels. She welcomed her daughters’ friends into their home and gave them space to have fun, laugh, and tolerated the peanut and plastic fruit pranks left behind to clean up in the morning. She maintained strong ties with her siblings and they pulled together to support their parents after the untimely passing of her sister, Carmela, from cancer. Her sister, Rae, and brother, Tom, would travel with their families to south Jersey to enjoy the beach, camping, and holiday celebrations together. Virginia helped to initiate what has become the annual Butterhof Progressive Dinner. She maintained the Matro tradition of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve, which expanded as her family grew with the addition of six grandchildren. Virginia was one of the first members of the Egg Harbor City Historical Society and was active in the social organization of the Degree of Pocahontas Kickapoo Council 51. She returned to work as a laboratory technician for William Lista Labs in Hammonton. She and Anthony retired in the 1990's to Wilmington, Delaware, where they enjoyed twenty plus years in the neighborhood of Westgate Farms. “Grammy” relished every moment spent with her grandchildren at parks, fairs, museums, baseball games, cooking chicken cutlets, and singing along with Barney. At the age of 54 she took up poetry and became a published poet. She delivered a reading of her poetry at the Hammonton Arts Center, coordinated by her cherished friend and artist, Carmelia DeFiccio. She and Anthony studied plant propagation and she took Italian lessons. They traveled extensively across the United States and Canada by car, visiting relatives along the way, while she journaled about their travels. They did an ancestry tour of Italy with her cousins, Jimmy and Marty Matro. They returned to Europe with granddaughters, Allison and Emily, to celebrate their college graduation. Although she and Anthony were not able to complete the same tour with their other grandchildren when they graduated from college, she still relished in their tales of adventure, especially regarding scallywaggin’ outings with Pop-Pop. “Oh, Tony!” Anthony and Virginia returned to New Jersey to live in Egg Harbor City. Virginia filled her days with movies, reading, fitness and meditation class, sudoku and word scramble puzzles, chocolate, biscotti, and her guilty pleasure of viewing the Bachelor and Bachelorette. She maintained her sense of humor with zingers, when you least expected it. Virginia was pre-deceased by her husband, Anthony, 15 months ago, and by her parents and sisters, Carmela Matro and Rae Plick, all whom welcomed her lovingly to her heavenly home. She is survived her brother, Thomas (Deborah) Matro; her daughters and their husbands: Barbara and Tom Rheault; Virginia and Justin Charpentier; Elaine and George Frick; grandchildren: Allison (Joe) Vargovic; Emily and Tommy Rheault; Zachary, Tyler, and Abigail Charpentier; in laws: Anna (Bud) Walker, Rose Rubba, Catherine (Dave) Cordner, Fran (partner Richard) Kessler, Claire Stines, Robert (Maryann) Butterhof, Albert (Donna) Butterhof; and numerous nieces, nephews, and Butterhof, Matro, and Serrao cousins. Mass will be celebrated at St. Nicholas Church of OLPH parish in Egg Harbor City on Thursday, December 31, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. followed by burial in the Egg Harbor City cemetery. COVID compliance is required with socially distanced seating, masks over nose and mouth, and hand sanitizing. The mass will be live streamed via the Carnesale Funeral Home Hammonton You Tube.com. Friends may call at the cemetery, preceding the burial. Donations in Virginia’s memory may be made to KNOM radio mission, oldest operating Catholic radio station in the US in Alaska, which served the parish where her sister, Carmela, was a missionary; or to the Egg Harbor City Historical Society, or Hammonton Arts Center.