Virginia Fulton West, a former teacher at Bryn Mawr School, died Monday at Greater Baltimore Medical Center of complications from a blood infection. The Towson resident was 83.
Born Virginia Florence Fulton in Birmingham, Ala., she moved to Baltimore as an infant. In the early 1930s, she attended Calvert School, where she befriended Scottie Fitzgerald, the daughter of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Mrs. West liked to tell about the day when F. Scott Fitzgerald asked her to pretend to be his daughter for a few hours. He had been planning to introduce visiting composer Cole Porter to his daughter, but Scottie was away for the afternoon, Mrs. West had said.
She was a 1939 graduate of Bryn Mawr School, and four years later graduated from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.
At Bryn Mawr School, Mrs. West taught English, history and geography in grades five to seven. She taught there for 19 years before retiring in 1981. Mrs. West was a member of the Woman's Club of Roland Park, L'Hirondelle Club and the Baltimore Country Club, where she played golf. She was an avid flower gardener, played bridge and enjoyed traveling.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Carrollton and Boyce avenues, in Ruxton.
Mrs. West is survived by her husband of 55 years, George Page West Jr., retired director of government sales at Black & Decker Corp.; two sons, Christopher R. West of Baltimore and George P. West III of Winston-Salem, N.C.; and six grandchildren.
