Virginia "Ginger" (Brooks) Sparks

Tarboro  –

Virginia “Ginger” Brooks Sparks, age 73, entered the Church Triumphant on January 8, 2021 with her beloved sister and daughters by her side.

 She was a gifted instructor of writing and composition, grammar, and literature for 47 years. She taught at Rutherfordton-Spindale Central High School in Rutherfordton, NC, Hugh M. Cummings High School in Burlington, NC and at the college level at what is now Alamance Community College and retired from Edgecombe Community College. Ginger was an avid reader and lover of the English language. She loved nothing more than to sit down with a good book and a steaming cup of coffee. She loved music and joining together with her family in singing and pickin’ and grinnin’. Her heart yearned for the mountains from whence she came and loved to travel to visit her family and with her sisters. She faithfully served as a Minister of Music’s wife, singing with her rich alto voice in his choirs, for 49 years. She loved her Lord and her “Robbie” more than anything. Robert truly was the love of her life since the 8th grade. She had a “Heart of Gold”.

Ginger was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. Arthur G. Brooks, Sr. and Ruth Franklin Brooks and by her husband, Rev. Robert Glenn Sparks. She leaves a lifetime of treasured memories for her daughters,  Virginia Sparks Thompson and husband, John of Winston-Salem, NC; and Carolyn Sparks Proctor and husband, Nick of Greenville, NC. She was a beloved sister to Martha Brooks Cowie (Bob) of Winston-Salem, Rebecca Ruth Brooks of Nashville, TN, and Arthur G. Brooks, Jr. (Marla) of Ellenboro. 

She was especially proud of and will be greatly missed by her three granddaughters, Maggie, Mason, and Emilee; and two grandsons, Felix and Michael, as well as a host of nieces, nephews, family friends and other extended relatives.

Please join family and friends for a special time to remember and celebrate Ginger’s wonderful life. A memorial service will take place at 2:00 pm, Saturday, January 16, 2021 at First Baptist Church, 605  N. Main St., Tarboro, NC. The family will receive friends in the fellowship hall prior to the service, beginning at 1:00 pm and other times at the home.

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