Virginia G. Smith

Virginia (Ginny) Smith died on Sunday, June 13, 2010 with her family beside her. Her daughters, Deb Selkow and husband Stanley Selkow, and Cindy Smith and partner Sandra Fitzgerald will miss her greatly as will her grandchildren Ben Selkow and fiancée Katharine Bailey, Isaac Selkow, and Maia Selkow. She was pre-deceased by her husband of 49 years, Dean Smith, and her sister, Doris Hughes.

Virginia was born on November 18, 1921 in Iowa where she grew up in Grand Junction and attended Drake University. She married Dean after the war, and they moved to Massachusetts where they opened and operated Ludlow Rubber Company next to exit 7 on the Mass Pike. They lived in Sixteen Acres in Springfield until retirement when they moved to Ocean Edge in Brewster where their home overlooked the pond near the ocean. Virginia later moved to Wise Living in Orleans and she spent the final months of her life in Newton at The Falls at Cordingly Dam where her daughters were able to join her regularly for meals and walks beside the waterfall.

Ginny lived a long and full life. She was deeply devoted to her family and friends and will be remembered lovingly by many for her quiet friendliness, her generosity of spirit, her eagerness to take care of those around her, and her fierce independence and determination to accomplish any challenge she set for herself. She loved walking on the beach, growing African violets from bits of stems, playing bridge, traveling with her grandchildren, and creating a warm and welcoming home and garden for those she loved. Throughout her life she continued to discover new ways to express creativity from sewing to arranging dried flowers to refinishing and caning furniture; in her final home she was very proud of a rose she painted that was hung in the building’s main hallway.

An active member of First Parish Brewster, Virginia belonged to the Women’s Club and the Women’s Circle Alliance, and for years she volunteered during the summers at Garret Treasures. She baked for fairs and funerals; she drove people to medical appointments; she volunteered at the library and delivered books to homebound elders. It was always more comfortable for her to be the caregiver than receiver, and she gave with abundant grace.

Ginny will be buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Springfield next to her husband, and a memorial celebration of her life will be held at First Parish Brewster on August 5 at 1pm. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in her name to the First Parish Brewster Preservation Project. Please make checks payable to the Brewster Meeting House Preservation Project and mail them to the BMHPP at P.O. Box 713, Brewster, MA 02631. Gifts may also be made in Virginia’s name to the American Birding Association Gulf Coast Oil Spill Cleanup Fund at www.aba.org/donate/gulf.php

The family wishes to express most sincere thanks to Newton Wellesley Hospital who provided our mother with dignity at end of life.

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