Virginia Smith Cronin

Virginia (Ginny) Smith Cronin lived what she called 'a life of ideas', always reading and learning new things. She was born in 1935 in Greybull, Wyoming to George Harold Cronin, a civil engineer, and Cordia Windsor, a school teacher. Her father served in the Air Force and the family lived in many places, including Germany and the Philippines, during her childhood. Ginny and her older sister Anne, traveled together from the Philippines to Maryland to attend university.

Ginny graduated from the University of Maryland and earned a doctorate at Cornell in Psychology, specializing in Child Development. She had a long and active career conducting research in reading development and teaching at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When she retired, she moved to her family home in Falls Church, Virginia, and continued with her research and teaching at George Washington University.

Ginny seemed soft-spoken and shy but she loved adventures, good stories, and debate-style conversations. Active in the Unitarian Church, she was a member of the secular humanists and the feminist humanists. She loved going on long rides with the Halifax Velo Bike Club and ski vacations in Colorado. Much of her attention was focused on raising her two daughters. Her basic approach to parenting was to reinforce positive behavior and encourage participation in an array of activities. Always tender and patient, she spent evenings and weekends reading and doing homework with her girls. They went on canoe trips together and did long drives along the East Coast to visit family.

Ginny had a curious, active mind and a dry, witty sense of humor. She passed away at home on August 1, 2024, at 88 years old. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her siblings Anne Jayne, George Harold Cronin, and Sandy Hjortland, her daughters, Susan (Michael) Dimock and Judy (Christopher Lewis) Halebsky, and two grandchildren, Casey and Georgina.