Virginia Strickland Brooking

Virginia Strickland Brooking, 74, passed away on July 25, 2026. A longtime resident of Habersham County, Virginia was an avid traveler, a lifelong educator, and a devoted wife and mother.

Virginia was born in 1952 to Fred and Georganna Strickland and grew up in the small town of Selinsgrove, PA. Even in childhood, she was known as a faithful friend to those in need. After graduating Selinsgrove High School in 1969, Virginia attended the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, receiving her BA in English with a minor in Education.

At Penn, Virginia also met Emerson Dean Brooking, the love of her life. He was wild and she was gentle, but they were made for each other. After their marriage in 1972 (she refused to wed before she had her college degree), Virginia became an adventurer. She backpacked across Europe and then 'the world. She camped on the shores of Easter Island and in the shadows of the Roman Colosseum, and trekked through India, Thailand, and China. Wherever she went, she made friends whom she would keep for decades.

Virginia channeled this same kind and energetic spirit into her career. She found purpose in helping the vulnerable and received her Master of Social Work from the University of Georgia in 1980. After settling in Turnerville, GA, where she would live for more than forty years, she served as a social worker for Habersham Home, a teacher at Demorest Elementary, and later as a GED instructor for nontraditional and immigrant students across Northeast Georgia.

Virginia became a mother late in life and approached the role of parent with delight. She nurtured her son’s curiosity and made sure he acquired her own lifelong love of reading. She volunteered for every field trip and was a constant, calming presence for both her son and his classmates.

A skilled researcher and archivist, Virginia found joy in collecting 18th- and 19th-century French fashion plates, taking advantage of her French language fluency. Virginia was also an accomplished genealogist, writing the history of at least seven family lines. It was fitting that Virginia’s last job was as a librarian and then volunteer genealogist at Clarkesville Library, sharing her cherished hobby with as many people as she could.

After being diagnosed with dementia in 2021, Virginia continued to live her life with grace and good humor. Although she gradually lost the ability to write, read, and eventually to speak, she never ceased to recognize her husband and son. Some of her last days at home were spent playing with her granddaughter, whose babbling she adored. On July 25, 2026, Virginia died peacefully from complications of dementia, her husband and son beside her.

Virginia is survived by her husband, Emerson Dean Brooking, 80; her brother, Fred Strickland Jr., 78; her son, Emerson Thomas Brooking, 37; and her granddaughter, Aruvi Mishra Brooking, 1.

Virginia’s ashes will be interred in a private ceremony later this year alongside the graves of her mother and father in Montandon, PA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Mildred Brooking Endowed Scholarship of Piedmont University.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Homes & Crematory, North Chapel at 245 Central Avenue, Demorest, Georgia 30535. Telephone: 706-778-1700.