The mother of Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., has died in Jacksonville, N.C.

Vera Hodges Webb died on Jan. 3 after a long illness, according to a statement from the senator’s office. She was 85.

Vera Webb was born in Kensett, Ark., on June 24, 1985, one of eight children. She grew up working in the Arkansas cotton fields and picking strawberries to help support her family after three of her siblings, as well as her father, died of illnesses.

She is survived by four children, as well as 18 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.

Vera Webb will be interred alongside her husband, Col. James Henry Webb, Sr., at Arlington National Cemetery following a graveside ceremony on Jan. 19.