Mary Virginia (Webb) TOMPKINS

TOMPKINS, WEBB, DUER, WOOD, PFAFF, HOFFMAN, MACDONALD, KASSAB, LIPRINI

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/14/2010 at 11:43:17

Grosse Point News, Michigan
February 12, 2010

Virginia Tompkins passed away peacefully on Feb. 3, 2010, at her home in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan after a brief illness. She was 92. The second of six children, she was born July 7, 1917 in Clarion, Iowa, and christened Mary Virginia Webb by her parents, Jessie Duer and H. Eugene Webb. As an infant, she moved to Detroit with her family and graduated from Central High School. Growing up and as a young adult, she loved spending summer days with her family and friends at the Webb family cottage on Hickory Island. She received a degree from Lasalle College in Newton, Mass. For 13 years she was secretary to her Father in his Detroit lumber business. During World War II, she served in the American Women's Service Speakers Bureau, and held a student aircraft pilot's license. After marriage to John A Tompkins ("Jack") in 1949, she moved to Grosse Pointe Farms where she resided for 61 years. She was active in numerous community activities, including service as Chairman of both the American Lung Association Women's Committee, and the Cinderella Ball. A life member of the Junior Group of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, she also served as a docent for the Detroit Institute of Art's "Art to the Schools" program. She was Co-founder and first Chairman of the Women's Association of the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Annual Jubilee to benefit the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Michigan. For 13 years, until 2009, she was a volunteer teacher's assistant and tutor for first graders at Grosse Pointe's Richard School. She was an active and ardent member for over 50 years of the Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, serving in many capacities including the Board of Trustees. She also enjoyed 50-plus years of active membership in the DAC and the Country Club of Detroit. Ginnie, as she was called, had a very inquisitive nature and a great passion for life. Her quiet wisdom and dignity was an inspiration to all that knew her. She was an avid bridge player, and was awarded the rank of Life Master. She especially enjoyed gardening and golfing, and was a prodigious reader, extensive world traveler, and frequent attendee of various cultural and sports events. The Michigan Opera, Detroit Tigers and Michigan Wolverines have lost a devotee. Her husband enjoyed multifaceted business and sports interests; as she often said, "Jack was always going somewhere, and I always had my hat on." Most of all, she cherished time with her family.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Jack in 1993; and her siblings Wendell Webb, Betty Jeanne Wood, and Dorothy Hoffman. She is survived by her sisters Ann MacDonald and Edith Pfaff (Eugene); her children John A Tompkins Jr (Paula), Marianne Kassab, and Virginia Liprini (Dean); and her grand-children Jessie and Clara Kassab, and Joshua and Nicolas Liprini. A memorial service will be held at the Grosse Pointe Memorial Church on Monday, February 15th at 1pm. Memorial contributions can be made to the Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, 16 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236; or to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, 26777 Halsted Rd, Ste 100, Farmington Hills, MI.