A funeral home obituary wrote that she 'passed peacefully of natural causes' on Aug. 18.
Virginia Patton Moss, the last surviving adult cast member of It's a Wonderful Life, has died. She was 97.
Mathews Funeral Home in Albany, Georgia, confirmed the death on Monday, writing in an obituary that she "passed peacefully of natural causes" on Aug. 18.
Patton Moss was best known for her role as Ruth Dakin Bailey in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, the wife of Todd Karns' Harry Bailey and sister-in-law of protagonist George Bailey, played by James Stewart. She is credited as Virginia Patton in the film.
Karolyn Grimes, who played George Bailey's daughter, Zuzu, posted a tribute to Patton Moss on Facebook, captioning a collection of new and old photos "We have another angel!"
Patton Moss launched her career as a student at the University of Southern California, where she gained experience acting in plays and a few films. In 2012, her husband, Cruse W. Moss, told an interviewer that "Virginia was the only girl that was contracted directly by Frank Capra. Everybody else in that film was loaned by another studio. But Ginny was not with the studio and Frank Capra actually signed her for that picture."
Following the 1946 release of It's a Wonderful Life, Patton Moss acted in four more films. Her final screen credit came in 1949 with The Lucky Stiff, starring Dorothy Lamour, Brian Donlevy and Claire Trevor. She married Cruse that same year, and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she raised their three children and served as a docent at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Her obituary also states that she received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Cleary College in Ann Arbor and served on Boards of the American Institute of Archeology, the Washtenaw County Mental Health Services Agency, and Cleary College's Board of Trustees.
Virginia and Cruse remained married until Cruse's death in 2018.
"I wanted exactly what I am. Ann Arbor, Michigan, a wonderful husband, wonderful children, a good part of the community," Virginia said in 2012. She had no regrets about leaving acting behind. "I couldn’t see me doing that for my life," she added.
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