Obituary for Virginia Elizabeth "Ginna" Loy Michael (Hill)
Virginia Elizabeth (Hill) Loy Michael originally of Romney, WV passed away peacefully on Friday, February 10th at Homewood in Williamsport MD. She was 91 years old.
Virginia (Ginna to her friends and family) was born June 30, 1931, in Cumberland, MD to Bernard Wagner and Virginia (DeBerry) Hill. She grew up in Romney with her parents and four siblings Bernard, Anne, Reynolds and Mary.
After graduating from Romney High School in 1950, Ginna attended Mary Baldwin College and later West Virginia University earning a Master’s Degree (+ 30 hrs.) in Special Education. At the same time Ginna raised five children and managed a frenetic household. After her first husband (Bill Loy) passed at a young age, she decided someone should write a book about his life; so she did. When she began teaching and learned that her new school had no Special Education curriculum, she developed one. This was no small task and an accomplishment that gave her a lifetime-worth of justifiable pride. Even after she retired from fulltime teaching, Ginna tutored, mentored and advocated for children with special learning needs.
She was a child of the Great Depression and so instilled in her children the same degree of independence and self-reliance that she possessed. Ginna demanded honesty and dedication from those around her and posed an unambiguous outlook on life and everyone who knew her understood and respected this particular forthright trait.
Virginia was always active and on the move! She was an avid and skilled tennis player, and she loved the speed and freedom that owning and driving a car afforded her. She was an exceptional mother, a dedicated and loving wife, a caring and thoughtful teacher, an enthusiastic WVU fan, a very active member of the choir at every church she attended, a published author, a proud West Virginian, and very independent. Throughout life, her deep and unwavering Christian faith was a constant, powerful and guiding force.
Ginna is survived by three children; William Craig Loy (Beth), Thomas Wagner Loy (Jan) and Ellen DeBerry Aidoock (Clif), six grandchildren; Jeremy Zimmerman, Sarah Loy, Baley Loy, Lilliana Cooper, Martina Cooper and Olivia Loy. She also leaves behind her sister Mary Bowman, seven great-grandchildren, countless nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, many friends from her time at Homewood, an unimaginable number of acquaintances from a life well-travelled and those in her church family in Arden and Williamsport.
In addition to her parents and three siblings, she was preceded in death by husbands William H. “Bill” Loy and Eugene “Gene” Michael, daughters Mary Anne Zimmerman and Susan G. Cooper and granddaughter Alyson Zimmerman.
Her children will receive friends and family on Friday, March 3rd between 6:00 and 8:00 PM at Brown Funeral Home, South Berkeley Chapel, in Inwood, WV. There will be a celebration of Virginia’s life the following day, March 4th at 11:00 AM at the Arden United Methodist church. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to a church or charity of your choice.
Arrangements made by Brown Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be offered at www.BrownFuneralHomesWV.com
Virginia (Ginna to her friends and family) was born June 30, 1931, in Cumberland, MD to Bernard Wagner and Virginia (DeBerry) Hill. She grew up in Romney with her parents and four siblings Bernard, Anne, Reynolds and Mary.
After graduating from Romney High School in 1950, Ginna attended Mary Baldwin College and later West Virginia University earning a Master’s Degree (+ 30 hrs.) in Special Education. At the same time Ginna raised five children and managed a frenetic household. After her first husband (Bill Loy) passed at a young age, she decided someone should write a book about his life; so she did. When she began teaching and learned that her new school had no Special Education curriculum, she developed one. This was no small task and an accomplishment that gave her a lifetime-worth of justifiable pride. Even after she retired from fulltime teaching, Ginna tutored, mentored and advocated for children with special learning needs.
She was a child of the Great Depression and so instilled in her children the same degree of independence and self-reliance that she possessed. Ginna demanded honesty and dedication from those around her and posed an unambiguous outlook on life and everyone who knew her understood and respected this particular forthright trait.
Virginia was always active and on the move! She was an avid and skilled tennis player, and she loved the speed and freedom that owning and driving a car afforded her. She was an exceptional mother, a dedicated and loving wife, a caring and thoughtful teacher, an enthusiastic WVU fan, a very active member of the choir at every church she attended, a published author, a proud West Virginian, and very independent. Throughout life, her deep and unwavering Christian faith was a constant, powerful and guiding force.
Ginna is survived by three children; William Craig Loy (Beth), Thomas Wagner Loy (Jan) and Ellen DeBerry Aidoock (Clif), six grandchildren; Jeremy Zimmerman, Sarah Loy, Baley Loy, Lilliana Cooper, Martina Cooper and Olivia Loy. She also leaves behind her sister Mary Bowman, seven great-grandchildren, countless nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, many friends from her time at Homewood, an unimaginable number of acquaintances from a life well-travelled and those in her church family in Arden and Williamsport.
In addition to her parents and three siblings, she was preceded in death by husbands William H. “Bill” Loy and Eugene “Gene” Michael, daughters Mary Anne Zimmerman and Susan G. Cooper and granddaughter Alyson Zimmerman.
Her children will receive friends and family on Friday, March 3rd between 6:00 and 8:00 PM at Brown Funeral Home, South Berkeley Chapel, in Inwood, WV. There will be a celebration of Virginia’s life the following day, March 4th at 11:00 AM at the Arden United Methodist church. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to a church or charity of your choice.
Arrangements made by Brown Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be offered at www.BrownFuneralHomesWV.com