Virginia A. Gilbert

Ginny was born and raised in Syracuse, NY. The youngest of four siblings, she grew up in a large and loving family and went on to make one of her own. She graduated Syracuse University with a degree in Physical Education and was a life-long member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Ginny was also a loyal member of the Lutheran church, most recently attending St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, and comes from a long line of Lutheran pastors.

In 1959, she was married to Kendall Edward Gilbert and raised seven amazing children in Niskayuna, NY–three step-children: Karen, Kendall, and Susan; together, they had three more: Jaclin, Mark, and Amy and, not satisfied, they then adopted Nathaniel, completing their family of “his, theirs, and someone else's children”. She was a loving and protective mother to all of her children, even if sometimes her children overwhelmed her ability to keep track of them all individually. Mark kindly prepared Ginny to remain calm and collected in the face of any injury or emergency, a skill she used when neighborhood kids needed an unflappable neighborhood mom. She and her family created and continue traditions including regular family reunions (over 60 years), and the holiday smorgasbord, complete with dozens of dozens of home made cookies.

As her children grew and began to lead more independent lives, Ginny went back to work in various jobs for a time, but ultimately found her calling in providing seniors with opportunities to engage with their communities in meaningful ways. Starting as volunteer director and outreach coordinator of the Annie Schaffer Senior Center of Schenectady County, she grew into her role as a leader in senior community engagement. As the director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) for Albany and Schenectady counties during the 90s, she recruited, placed and maintained 1100 volunteers in 90 agencies. During her time at RSVP, Ginny developed and implemented the Bone Builders, which she expanded across five states, and was a source of great pride for her.

Ginny was predeceased by her brothers Donald Hughes, Charles (Chuck) Hughes, sister Nancy Plass, husband Kendall Gilbert, and son Kendall. She is survived by her children, Karen, Susan, Jaclin, Mark, Amy, and Nathaniel, her grandchildren, Glenn (Adam), Emma, Riley, Dee, and Liliquoy, and great grandchildren, Benjamin, Silas, Milo and Leverett.

Ginny loved her family, chocolate, and quilting, not always in that order.

Services will be held on April 11th at 3:30PM at St Stephen Lutheran Church (11612 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20904) in Silver Spring.

Memorial contributions may be made to St Stephen Lutheran Church or Habitat For Humanity in memory of Ginny Gilbert.