A gathering of friends and family took place from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at the Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home in St. Cloud for Virgil VanBatavia, who died on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, at the St. Cloud Hospital. Memorial services also took place on Thursday, Jan. 29, at American Reformed Church in Luverne at 1:30 p.m. with a visitation 1 hour prior to the church. Burial was at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne at a future date.
Virgil was born Oct. 22, 1942, in Luverne to Bernard and Grace (Franken) VanBatavia. He grew up in Luverne. He served his country in the United States National Guard. He married Anna DeGroot on Nov. 2, 1962 in Luverne and they were later divorced. He later married Susan Young on April 9, 2009, in Duluth. Virgil worked at IBP in Luverne. He left IBP to start his cabinet making career with his brother Roger at Country Cupboards in Luverne. Later he worked for Design Line Cabinets and Crystal Cabinets in Sauk Rapids until his retirement. Virgil liked to spend time fishing and gardening, (oh how he loved his garden and lawn), he was a master woodworker and made many cabinets for his family after his retirement. In his younger years he was a pitcher on a fastpitch softball league in Luverne and is still known and talked about for his pitching in the Luverne area. He loved cats and rescued many stray cats over his lifetime. Most importantly Virgil loved his family, especially his grandkids and great grandkids. He so enjoyed watching their sporting events and activities over the years.
He is survived by his wife Susan Young of Foley; daughters, Tammy (Tom) Johnson, Debbie Pantekoek, grandchildren, Lyndsie (Brandon) Deragisch, Brandie (Justin) Hulstein, Kaila Hamann, Emilee (Nate) Haraldson, Nic (Melanie) Johnson, Torri (Austin) Rykhus, Jamie (Mason) Everett, great grandchildren, Kynslee, Calyn, Kaenen, Kamille, Ryder, Gracie, Beckham, Jayden and one on the way. He is also survived by his siblings, (twin brother), Verlyn (Susie) VanBatavia, Roger (Barb) VanBatavia, Ruth (Mark) Wallig, sister-in-law, Karen Young, brother-in-law, Peter (Kristen) Young, and many nieces and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his parents, and brother-in-law, William Young.
