Virginia Banks

Virginia Jardine Banks, 77, passed away on 27 November at Williamsburg Sentara Hospital, after an unexpected cardiac arrest. She is survived by her husband David Banks of Williamsburg; her son Larry Banks of Vienna, VA; and, her sister Doris Snyder of San Francisco, CA. Her parents, Clifford Jardine and Wanita Atterbury, are deceased. Virginia was born and raised in Portland, OR and graduated from Reed College in Portland. She and Dave met in college almost sixty years ago. Her death was two days before their fiftieth wedding anniversary (which by lucky accident they had celebrated, with friends, two weeks earlier)! She continued to the University of California at Los Angeles where she obtained her Masters degree in Library Science. She worked for some years as a cataloguer at the Library of Congress before opting for full-time motherhood. The family lived in Vienna, VA; Frankfurt, Germany; Rome, Italy; and, The Hague, Netherlands before retiring to Williamsburg in 2003. While living overseas she was a Cub Scout leader in Rome, and was Embassy Community Liaison Officer in The Hague. Virginia was an avid plant person, especially interested in rhododendrons and azaleas. She was a long-time member of both the Azalea Society of America (Northern Virginia Chapter) and the American Rhododendron Society (sequentially members of the Potomac Valley Chapter, the Dutch Chapter, and the Middle Atlantic Chapter). She was also an accomplished quilter (Colonial Piecemakers Quilt Guild) and weaver (Williamsburg Spinners & Weavers Guild) and created a large number of beautiful objects during her time in Williamsburg. Virginia was a long time Unitarian Universalist, member of the Fairfax Unitarian Church; the Wiesbaden, Germany Fellowship; the Netherlands Fellowship, and Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists (WUU). A celebration of her life will be held at WUU in January, date to be announced.