 WILLIAMS, VIRGINIA ECKHART known as Ginny to her family and friends, passed away at home on February 6, 2013, leaving us after struggling with pancreatic cancer. Throughout her final illness, she maintained remarkably good spirits, thanks to her quiet faith in the afterlife, support from her closely-knit family and her many friends, and knowledge that she had led a long and good life filled with love and achievement. Interment will be private, but there will be a public memorial service celebrating Ginny's life at the First Presbyterian Church, 215 Locust Street NE, at 1 PM on February 14, to be followed by a reception at the Fellowship Hall at the church. Ginny was born M. Virginia Jardine in Malden, Massachusetts, on July 20, 1926. While in high school, she moved with her family to Merchantville, New Jersey, where she made new high school friendships that lasted all her life. She graduated from high school in 1944, and because of her math skills, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) granted her a fellowship to study mechanical engineering drafting and design at Purdue, not exactly one of the more common career paths for high school girls at that time. While working at RCA, she met John Eckhart whom she married on November 15, 1947, and within a year the Eckharts moved to Albuquerque, where they both obtained jobs at what is now Sandia National Laboratories. In 1952, she took leave of her drafting career to give birth to her first child, Douglas (Doug). Though she had intended to return to work, Ginny's wonderful maternal instincts took over and after one look at her new baby boy, she knew she wasn't going to leave him to go back to Sandia. For the next 23 years, she put being a mom first, while giving birth to daughter Sylvia (in 1955), another daughter Audrey (in 1959), and a second son Curtis (in 1965). Once her children were in school, she found time for numerous side activities, including bridge, gourmet cooking, skiing, learning to fly an airplane, and being active in her church. In 1975, John Eckhart died, and Sandia invited her to come back to work. With money being tight and with all her children now being in school or having graduated, she accepted and resumed her drafting career, which later evolved into technical writing. She retired from Sandia in 1992, partly in order to help care for grandchild Chase. On May 31, 1987, she married David (Dave) C. Williams, a nuclear power safety analyst at Sandia, who happily proclaims that Ginny was the best thing that ever happened to him. Ginny's family warmly welcomed Dave and seemed to forget all about the prefix "step" in their relationship. Ginny and Dave shared innumerable family activities as well as a number of adventurous travels ranging from Antarctica to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands to Australia and China to Iceland and Greenland, to mention a few. Ginny is predeceased by father Joseph Jardine, mother Mary Louise Jardine, and older brother George Jardine. She is survived by her husband Dave, her younger brother Chester (Chet) Jardine, her four children, and their respective spouses Jeanne Eckhart, Michael (Mike) Stearnes, Norman Ott, and Kristina Eckhart - all of whom cherish Ginny's memory equally, since Ginny honored her children's soul mates as she honored her children themselves. She is also survived by six beloved grandchildren: Sylvia's four children (Audrey and Arlen Moore with wife Kelly, Chase and Kiersten Stearnes), and Doug's two (Garrett and Terra Eckhart). Great-grandchildren are Landen Eckhart, and Jackson and Logan Moore. As Ginny goes to her final home, it is easy to envision a heavenly host welcoming her with the salutation from Matthew 25:21: Well done, thou good and faithful servant! Donations honoring Ginny in lieu of flowers may go to the First Presbyterian Church and/or the Lustgarten Foundation for pancreatic cancer research. To view information or leave a condolence please visit www.danielsfuneral.com Daniels Family Funeral Services 7601 Wyoming Blvd NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 505-821-0010
|
