Virginia “Jince” Niceley McCurdy, 97, died peacefully at home in Altoona, Florida, on Dec. 5, 2022.

She was born in Lexington in 1925 to Major Edward and Ruby Woody Niceley, joining her three half sisters. She was cherished and swaddled in the traditions of southern pride and social graces.

When Jince was just 13, her beloved father died, leaving the family in shock and in difficult financial straits. A caring neighbor, Alice Laslie, encouraged Jince through this time and guided her as she blossomed into a bombshell southern belle with a beauty and style that never deserted her.

Jince graced the Miss Virginia Fourth of July float with aplomb. It was Alice who encouraged Jince to audition for the Virginia Military Institute’s Second Class Show. She sang her heart out for a full house of moonstruck cadets, to original compositions written and played by “Chick” Gordon and later repeated by request with Will Osborne’s band. She sang with other greats like Les Brown and had been a vocalist at University of Mary Washington and Southern Seminary University.

Jince met her future husband, Bill, when he was an inductee stationed in Lexington, and they married in 1944. They moved to San Francisco prior to Bill’s overseas deployment. Jince took a job with Permanente Metals where she entertained dignitaries for ceremonial ship launchings at Kaiser shipyards. Ironically, one of the ships was named the SS Harvard Victory in honor of Harvard University, where Bill would later coach track.

Upon demobilization, Bill took a job coaching track and field at Springfield College and soon parlayed his skills into a full-time position at Harvard University before they moved to the town of Harvard, Massachusetts, in 1956.

The town’s former Poor Farm was home for 57 years and with an open- door policy, there were many wonderful acquaintances and friends that graced the McCurdy family home. Jince had the energy, enthusiasm and vitality to manage a large and sometimes chaotic household life with southern charm and poise. She enjoyed tennis, golf, bridge, painting and performing.

Jince and Bill often spent the summer and fall in the unmarred beauty of Nova Scotia. Their centuries-old, cross-gabled fairy tale dwelling delighted them. It sat nestled between Mt. Rose and the Bay of Fundy, a perfect artist’s retreat. The winter found them camping and exploring the Florida gulf coast.

In 1979 Jince joined The Gloucester Academy of Fine Arts in Gloucester, wholeheartedly diving into a painting career. She also apprenticed with John C. Terelak in Rockport. She exhibited her work in galleries from Florida to Nova Scotia and entered competitions that earned her awards from honorable mention to best in show.

After Bill died in 1999, Jince moved to The Villages, Florida. She enjoyed a leisurely life painting and golfing with a wonderful group of friends. Her last move was to a more tranquil setting at Lake View Terrace in Altoona, Florida; all the while, she continued to paint. Jince created hundreds of oils, pastels and watercolors. She once proclaimed, “I think all of us should go out of this world leaving something of beauty behind”.

Indeed she did.

Jince was predeceased by her three half sisters: Mildred Anne Lynch, Mary Frances Cummings and Bessie Mae Pultz.

She is survived by her beloved children; James (Anne) McCurdy; Alex (Cathy) McCurdy; Allyson (Rick) Cruikshank; and Darcy McCurdy. Her son, William (Marion) McCurdy, died Feb. 18, 2023.

Her survivors also include eight grandchildren: Wendy (Michael) Fleming, Jay (Stacy) McCurdy, Beth (Andrew) Cranston, Steele (Brenda) McCurdy, Suzy (Jim) Fink, Jair McCurdy, Shea McCurdy and Will McCurdy; and nine great grandchildren: Ben, Hannah, Isaac, Lucas, Ethan, Isabel, Jackson, Kaylen and Riley.

A celebration of life has not yet been planned.