Valjean Saretha Hawkins Lieving, 95, of Fairmont, passed away peacefully Tuesday (Jan. 29, 2013) at the Genesis Fairmont Campus, Pierpont Center, in Fairmont.

She was born near Worthington on Feb. 28, 1917, to the late Ralph Haymond and Elsie Fern Michael Hawkins.

Valjean graduated from Monongah High School in 1935. She married Eugene S. Lieving, her high school friend, on June 19, 1937. Valjean and Eugene were married for 70 years.

For all her life, Valjean was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her days on Earth were spent serving the Lord, attending church, taking care of her home, being a seamstress for her two daughters, family gatherings for Thanksgivings and Christmases, summers spent at Tygart Lake with all her family and especially grandchildren, teaching them how to waterski and teaching them about life and God, boating and friendships with families at Tygart Lake — the Micks, the Collins and many others. She had a special love for gardening and flowers. She was a keeper of many scrapbooks and newspaper articles of the entire family. She researched family genealogy. She flew many times to California to visit her daughter Linda and family. In later years of being a grandmother, she was devoted to her last few grandsons with baby-sitting, playing, baseball games and reading story after story. She always had time for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Valjean, through her kind and gentle spirit, leaves a legacy of “LOVE.”

Valjean was a member of Trinity Assembly of God in Fairmont with Pastor Ray Crabtree.

Valjean leaves her two children to cherish her memory, Linda Lough Whitehouse and husband Bob of Roseville, Calif., and her son, E. Scott Lieving II and wife Janet of Fairmont. Survivors also include eight grandchildren, Mike Ice (Kathi) of Rye, N.Y., David Ayers (Judith) of Currituck, N.C., Valerie Ayers Brown (Stephen) of Rockland, Mass., Susan Ayers Lilavois (Joe) of Springfield, Va., Betsy Lough Hixenbaugh of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., Eric Lough (Erin) of Bridgeport, Ryan Lieving and fiancée Dee Dee Holbert of Fairmont, and Matthew Lieving of Fairmont. John Kois of Virginia and Kevin Berg of Virginia were her “adopted in love” grandchildren. Also surviving are 10 great-grandchildren, Brittany Hixenbaugh of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., Brandon Hixenbaugh of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., Emily Ice of Atlanta, Ga., Megan Ice of New York, N.Y., Elizabeth Ice of Elon, N.C., Ted Ice of Richmond, Va., David Brown of Rockland, Mass., Taylor and Kolby Lough of Bridgeport, and Brooke Ayers Lilavois of Springfield, Va.; a nephew, Jim Holbert of Sydney, Australia; and other relatives and special friends.

She was preceded in death by her great-grandchild, Colin Samuel Brown (5) of Rockland, Mass.; her great-grandchild, Mike Ice (22) from Rye, N.Y.; her parents; her husband, Eugene, who died in 2007; her daughter, Deanna Ayers Lieving, who died in 2008; her brother, Dallas L. Hawkins, in 1944, shot down as pilot in World War II; her sister, Minalee Hawkins Ice of Winchester, Va., in 2011; and her favorite sister-in-law, Maxine Lieving Holbert.

Friends and family may call at Ford Funeral Home, R.C. Jones Chapel, 1410 Country Club Road, Fairmont, from 4-9 p.m. Thursday. Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. Friday. The funeral service will be held in the funeral home at 11 a.m. Friday with Pastor Ray Crabtree of Trinity Assembly of God officiating and Pastor Mickey Shuttlesworth of Idamay (Valjean’s first cousin) who will be delivering the eulogy.

Special thanks to Dr. Peter Ang for many years of professional and dedicated care. A very special thanks to the nurses, staff, workers and administration of Pierpont Nursing Home who loved and cared for “Miss Valjean” for three years.

Condolences may be made to the family at www.fordfuneralhomes.com.