Our beloved mother, Virginia Riggins Slaughter (“Genne”), passed from this life into the presence of her Heavenly Father on March 23, 2026. She was a devoted wife to the late Jim Slaughter and the daughter of Melvrick and Mildred Riggins. 

The burial will be private, but a Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, May 1, 2026, at Refuge Baptist Church, 219 Refuge Church Road, Central, SC, with a reception to follow. 

The family would like to thank Susan Smith and Interim Hospice for their loving, kind, and tender care over these last ten months. Memorials may be made to Refuge Baptist Church or to Helping Hand Children’s Home, 3109 Old Greenville Highway, Central, SC 29630. 

Genne had several careers, including working at JP Stevens, running her own cleaning service, and serving as a church custodian. She was sharp-witted and sassy. As custodian, she made it clear that anyone who left chewing-gum wrappers in the pew pockets would answer to her.

Her handwriting resembled Thomas Jefferson’s, and she could run in spiked heels. She was an expert on removing mud out of a little girl’s top. Her favorite color was blue—just not on houses or cars! She had the gift of straightforwardness, which many of you witnessed firsthand. Once, on a Christmas wish card to her secret sister, she simply wrote: “No junk!” 

Genne loved to bake and decorate cakes—wedding cakes, birthday cakes, and her famous fruitcakes. Her favorite TV show was The Rifleman. She loved salt on watermelon and crispy chicken livers, and she despised clumps of mowed grass—raking her yard well into her eighties. Her heart was large, and she once gave her coat to a woman selling strawberries roadside… though not her fur coat. That one she saved for dumpster diving with her friend Nita Canoy.

She will be dearly missed by all of us, including her brothers and sisters, who still meet every Sunday afternoon for cake and coffee—just at another house now. 

Genne is survived by her daughters: Sheila Dover (Ken), Kaki Martin (Ed), Cindy Galloway, Jann Slaughter, and Stacey Slaughter; her sons: James “Bo” Slaughter (Dusty) and Michael Slaughter; her sisters: Judy Link and Janice Durham; her brothers: Joe Riggins and Larry Riggins; her grandchildren: Jared Alewine (Tracy), Hayden Alewine, Caroline Martin (Morgan), Angie Albertson, Mason Slaughter, and Matt Dover (Susan); and her great‑grandchildren: Springer Alewine, Emma Alewine, Kyle Cole, Emily Cole, Sloane Smith, and Ford Smith. 

In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her brothers Duane, James, and Tommy Riggins. 

The endless memories she created as a mother, grandmother, great‑grandmother, sister, and friend will sustain us for the rest of our lives.

 Condolences may be left for the family by visiting WWW.MCDOUGALDFUNERALHOME.COM