Virginia Valia (Papani) Roth of Warren, died unexpectedly on December 26, 2023. She was 90, just three days shy of her 91st birthday. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on December 29, 1932, she was the youngest daughter of Nicholas V. Papani and Valia Rose (Puopolo) Papani.
She attended school at Thayer Academy and received her BA degree from Simmons College in 1954.
An avid skier, she spent weekends traveling north to ski in New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1958 she decided to spend a winter as a ski bum in Alta, Utah, where she met John Roth, a ski patroller. On March 30, 1959, they eloped to Las Vegas and started their 58-year journey as a married couple. To be closer to family in Massachusetts, they moved east in 1960 and eventually settled in Warren where they were instrumental in the development of Sugarbush. She became a dedicated member of the Mad River Valley. Along with raising her three daughters and running Roth Real Estate, which she and John started in 1961, she served as town auditor, was a longtime and current member of the Warren Development Review Board, an early member of the Warren School Board, a founding member of the Mad River Valley Community Fund, and a notary public and Justice of the Peace for many decades which allowed her the pleasure of performing numerous marriages and civil unions.
Music and the arts were a lifelong passion of Virginia’s. From an early age, her father, a clarinet player, fostered the playing of music with his three daughters. As an adult, she became a music teacher at The Bundy School and gave piano lessons at her home in Warren. She taught countless Valley children to play the piano through the 1970s and 1980s, some more successfully than others! She dedicated over 40 years to being an organist and choir director at the Warren United Church and supported and fostered the arts throughout The Valley. She was a board member of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Scrag Mountain Music, a founding board member of Riverrun Chamber Players and a member of the American Symphony Orchestra League. She was a part of a group who brought the opera festival to The Valley and was a founder of the Warren Arts Committee. In addition to Roth Real Estate, she operated The Bradley House, a craft store in Warren, that highlighted the work of local artists.
Virginia was respected as a hardworking woman, balancing family, career, and service to her community. She was happiest when she was busy. A natural in the kitchen, she cooked with an Italian flair inherited from her mother Rose. She entertained with ease, often creating a delicious meal from few ingredients and welcomed any and all to her table. Many fondly remember stretching their vocal pipes at the annual Roth Christmas Caroling Party where Ginny was the pianist and director of a rambunctious crowd of carolers packed into her living room. She loved the hobbies that living in The Valley offered: skiing, golf, tennis, creating and tending to her beautiful flower beds, and her vegetable garden. No matter where she was, she couldn’t resist the urge to dead-head and weed someone’s garden!
She impacted so many people from near and far with her generous spirit. She has been referred to as a second mother by many. The same could be said in her work as a realtor for over 60 years. She didn’t just facilitate a transaction, she made sure that her buyers felt welcome and at home in The Valley. Many of her clients became lifelong friends. Virginia’s presence will be sorely missed in The Valley and beyond.
Virginia was predeceased by her husband John Roth, her sister Dorothy Palmer and her eldest grandchild Jack Burfoot. She is survived by her sister Phyllis Godwin of Hingham, Massachusetts, her daughters Laurie Alta Roth of Cohasset, Massachusetts, Lisa Roth Wasden and husband Kelly of Larkspur, California, and Maria Burfoot and husband Chris of Warren, Vermont, grandchildren Olivia and Nicholas Bartlett, Mia and Abby Burfoot, and Theo Wasden, as well as many nieces and nephews and their families.
A celebration of Virginia’s life is to be held in the spring on a date and time to be announced. In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made to the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, 2 Church Street, Suite 3B, Burlington, Vermont 05401 (www.vso.org). Online condolences can be made at perkinsparker.com
