Virve Altau of Waynesboro, Virginia, died on April 15, 2025, at her home following a short illness. She was 97. A resident of Waynesboro since 1956, she was born Virve Tarning in 1928 in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The country had just gained its independence a few years prior.

She spent her youth with her family in the fairytale-like medieval city and memorable sunny summers on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa, visiting her grandparents. During the Second World War, the family survived the Soviet air bombing of her hometown on March 9-10, 1944, in which nearly 800 people were killed, including many of her classmates. In September of that year, as the Russians neared to reoccupy their homeland, the family fled over the stormy Baltic Sea to Sweden, where they eventually ended up in Stockholm. Virve was then only sixteen years old. She completed Estonian high school in the town of Sigtuna in 1947. There, she met her future husband, Karl Altau.
Following high school, Virve studied business correspondence at the Bar-Lock Institute in Stockholm, where she became proficient in English, German, French, and Spanish. She was then employed by Östberg & Diedrichs, an export/import company, and the Swedish forestry company Mo och Domsjö AB. She studied languages at Stockholm University from 1951-1952.
From there, Virve traveled to the United States in 1952 to study at Auburn University (known then as Alabama Polytechnic Institute). Virve and Karl were married there in September of that year. At Auburn, she studied Economics and furthered her studies at Kansas State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1954 and a Master of Science in 1956 in Economics, with minors in Journalism and Statistics. Her master's thesis was on "Labor Productivity Studies in 22 Kansas Elevators." She published articles in the Kansas City Star, Topeka Daily Capital, and Manhattan Mercury. She was a member of Theta Sigma Phi, the Journalism Honor Society, now known as the Association for Women in Communications (AWC).

Moving to Waynesboro, Virginia, in 1956, Virve and Karl raised two sons, Karl Stephen and Rolf Ilmar.

Virve stayed busy with her membership and volunteerism with the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the Waynesboro Hospital Auxiliary, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Waynesboro Investment Group.

She was an avid artist for many years, participating in the Paletteers Artist group, the Virginia Watercolor Society, the Shenandoah Valley Art Center, and volunteering at the Staunton CoArt Gallery.

Her other lifetime interests were tennis, bridge, and traveling. She often journeyed to Sweden to visit her family and many friends there. She also traveled to see her native Estonia, where she still has relatives. Virve and her husband Karl were involved in the antiquarian book trade, focusing on American history and illustrated children's and sporting books and pamphlets. They amassed a collection of over 25,000 titles, including hundreds of reference works.

Virve was preceded in death by her husband Karl, and in Sweden, her parents Artur and Magda (Kentmann) Tarning, her sister Urve Miller, and brother Hillar Tarning. She leaves behind two sons, Karl Stephen (wife Rita Laima) and Rolf Ilmar (wife Sara), and three grandchildren: Aliisa, Stefen, and Vivi. The family wishes to thank her wonderful friends and caregivers, who gave her much love and attention over the years: Stacey Spencer, Nancy Anderson, Nancy Oyer, Carol Cook, Holly Baker, Claire Ashby, Nikki Robertson, and Merike Altau. We also thank the Hospice of the Shenandoah for the care during her final days.

A graveside service will be held at Riverview Cemetery in Waynesboro at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 26. Following the burial, the family will receive friends at a reception at Orchard Creek in Waynesboro beginning at 1:00 pm.

In place of flowers, the family asks that charitable donations be considered with the Friends of the Waynesboro Public Library, the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center, or a charity of one's choice.