Virginia Brogan

Virginia Bird Brogan

Virginia Bird Brogan, 91, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Abilene, Texas.

A visitation service for family and friends will be held on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, from 5:00-7:00 pm, at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, Abilene, TX.

A graveside funeral service for family will be held at Sherwood Chapel & Memorial Gardens in Alcoa, Tennessee, where she will be laid to rest beside her husband of 49 years, Beauchamp Brogan.

Virginia was born in Lansing, Michigan, to Jess and Evelyn Bird, on February 26, 1935. Very soon after her birth, Virginia moved to the Cumberland Plateau area of East Tennessee where Jess became an agricultural extension agent for the University of Tennessee. Virginia lived on the homesteads just outside of Crossville before moving to a home built by Jess on a mountaintop in Ozone, TN. At their home in Ozone, Virginia grew up a farmer's daughter, where she raised strawberries, planted orchards, picked berries, and even milked goats. She was very much a lover of the outdoors, and she often talked about spending evenings on Sunset Rock, watching storms roll in from the West. 

The Birds also had a home in Knoxville where Virginia lived and went to High School and then The University of Tennessee. She graduated from UT in 1957 with a degree in geology, and a minor in music. She became a classically trained concert pianist while at UT, and she was also proficient in singing and playing the Viola. 

After graduation from UT, Virginia was employed by East Tennessee Natural Gas as an office clerk and secretary. She could type an unbelievable 120 words per minute on a mechanical typewriter. Virginia was an incredibly intelligent, talented and beautiful lady. 

Virginia married Beauchamp Brogan in 1959, and they soon bought a property outside of Knoxville on Fort Loudon Lake, where they built a home and moved in 1962. Virginia left her job soon after to start a family, and she dedicated her life to being a wife and mother, raising 4 children. Her priorities were making sure every activity was available for her children (music and sports) and having dinner on the table every evening, promptly at 6:00 pm. And no one was allowed out the door in the morning without having had a home-cooked breakfast.

Virginia lived a full life, supporting her husband as an attorney at TVA and UT, raising a family, and remaining very active in music. She never played the piano professionally, but she was always happy to play for anyone who requested it, and she was a steadfast member of her church choirs.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents Jess and Evelyn Bird, her husband Beauchamp Brogan, and her daughter Marlene Brogan.

Virginia is survived by her son John Brogan (wife Romona, daughters Kimberly and Kinsey, grandchildren Brinley and Riley), her son Alan Brogan, her son Jim Brogan (wife Dee Dee, daughters Mary Caroline Mackenzie and Elizabeth Grace Brogan), her sister Katie Freeman, and her brother Jennings Bird (wife Marianne). She is also survived by her sister-in-law Doris Campbell, and countless nieces and nephews on both the Bird and Brogan sides of the family.

The family of Virginia wishes to extend their sincere thanks to her care teams at Wesley Court Senior Living (both assisted living and skilled nursing), her care team from Visiting Angels, and her care team from Alpha Omega Hospice.