Virginia Lucia Eaton Flynn, VMD

Virginia Lucia Eaton Flynn, VMD, known as “Ginger” to friends, passed away peacefully in her own home on December 20, 2022. She was born on August 5, 1932 in Miami, Florida. During childhood, she and her family moved often due to her father’s career as a hotel and hospital manager. Though she lived in Alabama, Florida, Maine, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, her favorite childhood home was the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach. Her stories about swimming in the enormous pool and drinking custom milkshakes at the ice cream counter were reminiscent of Eloise. Typical of Ginger, she took greatest joy in riding ponies on the beach and raising chickens on the hotel grounds. Photographs from her youth inevitably show her with animals—if not a rooster or horse, an animated Boston Terrier.

Ginger was a precocious student who loved literature and art like her mother, yet her love of animals was stronger still. Her father and bank executive Aunt Mildred Romfh encouraged her to be ambitious. After graduating from Nazareth College, she applied to medical school, both human and veterinary. The former accepted her on schedule, though she waited to hear from her top choice, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. To her great joy, she was among the three women the school accepted that year.

While in veterinary school, Ginger met the soft-spoken, handsome Daniel Vincent Flynn, who had a knowledge of horses and flare for medicine to match her own. After veterinary school, they married and soon moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. Only one other veterinarian practiced in Charlottesville in 1959, and he was nearing retirement. Ginger and Dan opened Georgetown Veterinary Hospital on Georgetown Road, which still thrives today. She practiced small animal medicine, and he practiced equine. Within twelve years, they had six children. In order to look after the children and practice medicine part time, Ginger recruited help at home and at the animal hospital. The person she and the children loved and relied on most during these years was the incomparable Othelia Quarrels.

All this time, Ginger raised and showed Boston Terriers. She encouraged her children to participate in dog show junior handling and to correctly groom their long-haired dog breeds. They rode ponies and enjoyed the companionship of various animals, including birds, goats, fish, reptiles, and, of course, dogs and cats.

As the children grew older, Georgetown Veterinary Hospital grew larger and eventually needed Ginger’s full-time participation. She devoted herself to her work, which entailed long days, Saturdays, and emergency calls. Ginger gave her children a book about talking to animals, but she had no need for one. She was a dog and cat whisperer, who also had a quick mind and deft hands for curing illnesses and injuries.

When at last Ginger retired, she took tremendous delight in her grandchildren. She and Daniel kept ponies on the farm for the grandchildren to ride. An adept swimmer, she would often drive them to the pool and enjoy the water as much as they did. She had a collection of children’s books that she loved reading to them.

When Ginger became frail, an exceedingly gentle and intelligent lady and professional nurse entered her and Daniel’s lives, Sandy Shawn. Sandy and her lovely, skillful daughter, Heather Cochran, and kind-hearted, expert caregiver, Amy Ogbomo, and Amy’s kind, knowledgeable friend, Ellen Kollie, made it possible for Ginger to remain at home. The Flynn family is deeply grateful to these extraordinary women and to Hospice of the Piedmont and Hospice nurse, Rachel Riedel.

Ginger was preceded in death by her parents, Roland and Virginia Eaton, and her brother Lawrence Eaton. She is survived by her husband, Daniel V. Flynn, VMD, and her six children and their spouses: Lucia and Thomas Dulan, Margaret and Douglas Adamson, Daniel and Eileen Flynn, Sean and Tammy Flynn, Fritz and Morgen Flynn, and Elizabeth and Jeffrey Claman. Ginger also has twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The grandchildren are Stella, Virginia, Samuel, Vincent, Caroline, Joseph, Patrick Ryan, Shelby, Marlena, Erin, Laurel, and Andrew. The great-grandchildren are Forrest, Ansley, Baylor, and Finley. In addition, Ginger is survived by her brothers, George and Thomas Eaton, and sister-in-law Pamela Eaton, and sisters Ann Neville and Ethel Eaton and brother-in-law, Thomas Davidson, along with much-loved nieces, nephews, and other family.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Hospice of the Piedmont or the SPCA. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Teague Funeral Home, 2260 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, VA. A mass will be held on Wednesday, December 28, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 401 Alderman Road.