Virginia “Ginny” Wood

Virginia “Ginny” Wood (Kilcoyne), wife, mother, sister, grandma, great-grandma, aunt, and friend died peacefully on March 12^th of natural causes at University Place in West Lafayette, Indiana at age 92.  Simply stated—to know Ginny was to love her.  Born on October 28, 1929,  the eve of the Great Depression in Cleveland, Ohio into a close-knit Irish Catholic family, she was one of the ‘we’ generation…those who lived frugally, gave generously, and loved unconditionally.

Ginny carried on a legacy of strong, independent, resourceful women, famously breaking an engagement because she felt her fiancé would be too controlling.  She found the perfect partner in Art Wood, who (when he learned that she was single again) tracked her down on a bus in Cleveland to make her acquaintance.  The rest is history.  They soon married and started a family that ultimately included seven children, 17 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren (and counting).  Art and Ginny had a major life change when they were transferred from Ohio to Indiana in 1969, leaving behind parents, cherished siblings, many nieces and nephews, and lifelong friends.  But they had each other.  They made it work for the sake of their children and were soon thriving in their new hometown of West Lafayette.

Her world was upended in 1981 with the sudden, unexpected death of her beloved Art.  Facing new challenges, Ginny approached the future with her trademark ‘glass half full’ approach to life and carried on.  With some of the kids still at home, she found full-time employment in a variety of jobs throughout the years.  She worked in the credit department at Sears, as a bookkeeper for a toy sales rep, office manager for a hypnotist, and her favorite, as a clerk for the local library, relishing the challenge (in pre-Google days) of finding answers to obscure questions.

In her spare time, Ginny volunteered for many community organizations, including as a weekly ‘teller’ at Blessed Sacrament church counting donations; at local hospitals as a ‘pink lady’ working in the gift shop; and president of the Purdue Women’s Club, Cosmopolitan Club and Newcomers Club, where her accomplishments included arranging day trips to interesting sites throughout the state of Indiana, organizing transportation, tours, and luncheons in each new city.  She was also an avid reader, a pretty good bowler, happy golfer, and enthusiastic bridge player.  Anyone who’s been to a Wood family wedding has witnessed Ginny’s famous dance moves and joyous nature.  She relished these family events, and every wedding album contains pictures of Ginny at the center of a dance circle or conga line.  She will be dearly missed.

Ginny loved all things Irish, especially Art’s alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.  She took each of her grandchildren to a football game (rain or shine), which always included a trip to the famous Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.  She created lifelong memories by taking groups of her grandchildren on adventures, including a train trip to Texas, a Disney Cruise, and a Dallas vacation with five pre-teens that took an unexpected turn when DFW was closed due to an ice storm on their return flight.  Ginny never knew a stranger and would talk to anyone about anything.  Seatmates on planes didn’t stand a chance.  Headphones did not deter her.  On a roadtrip to Cleveland, daughter Colleen turned up the radio in an attempt to curb the chatter, and Ginny impishly told her, “You know that won’t stop me.”  But her voice was also a source of generous praise and gratitude.  She was known throughout University Place as a kind woman who constantly thanked those who took care of her, especially during the Covid lockdown when they were her family.

Ginny will be welcomed to the loving arms of her Lord and by all her loved ones who preceded her in death, including her beloved husband Art; great granddaughters Adalyn Wooser and Lilly Krug; parents Bernard and Anna (Egan) Kilcoyne; brothers Bernard and his wife Clem, and Father John Kilcoyne; sisters Coletta Ansberry and her husband Jay, and Catherine McGuirk and her husband Frank.  She was the devoted mother of Jeanne Eberly (the late Don), Art (Cheri), Colleen (Bill) Calhoun, Mary (Steve) Elsner, Tim, Lynne (Bob) Withers, and Michael, as well as 17 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.  She is also survived by her dear sisters Eileen Vaughan (the late John) and Helen Malloy (the late Bill) and many nieces and nephews.  She graduated from Lourdes Academy in Cleveland, where she was class president.  Of course she was!

Visitation will be on Friday, March 18^th at Blessed Sacrament Church in West Lafayette from 10:00 -11:00 am, followed by a funeral mass and luncheon at a local restaurant.  Interment will be at Holy Cross cemetery in Cleveland at a later date.  In Ginny’s memory, please donate to a charity of your choice or pay it forward with a good deed or two in her honor.