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Valda Lidija Jirgensons née Spengelis, 99 years old, of Valdosta, Georgia, passed away peacefully on November 29, 2022.
Valda was born in Ludza, Latvia, to Janis and Pauline Spengelis on February 9, 1923. She went to secondary school in Rezekne, Latvia, and attended the Riga Conservatory of Music. Valda and her family fled to Germany during WWII. She married Leonids A. Jirgensons on October 20, 1946, while residing in the Displaced Persons camp in Eutin, Germany. In 1952, they were able to immigrate to the United States with their then two-year-old son, Dainis. An accomplished pianist and organist, Valda taught at the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was very active in the Latvian community. In 1961, with Dainis and their two daughters, Aija and Nora, the family moved to Lubbock, Texas, where Leo taught classical languages at Texas Tech University. While there Valda earned two Masters degrees, one in German and the other in Organ Performance. After Leo passed away in 1982, she moved to Alva, Oklahoma, and later to Valdosta, Georgia, sharing a home with her daughter Aija.
Valda is preceded in death by her husband Leonids A. Jirgensons, and her brother, Bruno Spengelis.
Valda is survived by her children, Dainis Jirgensons, Aija and her husband Jim Shrader, and Nora Nance; grandchildren, Alek and his wife Daniela Shrader, Dorothy Shrader, Andrea Nance and Alexandra Rodgers; and great grandchildren, Eva and Esme.
Valda's family wishes to express their sincere thanks to the Hospice of South Georgia. According to her wishes, Valda's remains were cremated and will be scattered on the waves of the Baltic Sea, home once again in Latvia.
Kind words and expressions of sympathy can be left for the family at http://www.musicfuneralservices.com.
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