Dorothy Virginia (Givens) IRELAND

GIVENS, IRELAND, BOTTUM, SUBRENAT, JONES, POLONY, MANSER, PRAHLOW, GANZ, SHARP

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/26/2013 at 19:18:50

November 13, 1919 --- February 8, 2009

Exeter, NH -- D. (Dorothy) Virginia Givens Ireland died at Riverwoods in Exeter, New Hampshire the evening of Sunday, February 8, 2009. She was 89 years old. She and her late husband, John, had lived in Exeter since moving there from Ohio in 1995. Virginia was born Nov. 13, 1919, in Brownsdale, MN, to William Paul and Fannie Crawford Bottum Givens. She graduated from Northfield High School and attended Carleton College before transferring to the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, where she graduated in 1943 as a Registered Nurse with a BSc in Public Health. Virginia was practicing public health nursing in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, when she met and married John David Ireland in 1945. John was stationed there with the Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Manhattan Project. After the War, Virginia continued in public health nursing after moving to Boston, MA, with John, where she supported his studies at MIT graduate school, and where she gave birth to the first of their four children. During the 20 or so years that followed, and the 20 or so relocations that those years would include, Virginia repeatedly established the homes and households that provided the stability and security her four children and husband would come to live in, love in, and remember. Although her formal training was in nursing, Virginia was also an artist, working in sculpture, painting, sketching, pottery, weaving, and intricate needlework, as well as various collections of a more handicraft nature, including her own style of apple head dolls. Her creative legacy is probably most notable for the multi-year genealogy project she took on in her mid-70's, culminating in a 470 page compendium of all she could discover and document about the family trees of both sides of the Ireland Family. The resulting book, "A Tapestry of Ancestors", is the family bible for current Givens and Ireland relatives. She produced it on a primitive IBM PC, using early geneolagy and word processing software that would challenge users half her age today.

Virginia is preceded in death by her husband John, 2001, brother Hugh, 1998, sister Helen, 2009, and son-in-law Jean-Pierre Subrenat (Helen Ireland), 2004. Survivors include children: William Paul (Sandra Jones), Helen Frances, David Craig (Carol Polony), and Jeanne Ellen (Norris Manser). Grandchildren include: Paul Andrew Subrenat (Roubaix, France), Jennifer N. Prahlow (Boulder, CO), Alyson L. Prahlow (Salem, NH), Julie E. Manser (Daniel Ganz), Kira L. Manser (Philadelphia, PA). Great grandchildren include: Ezra and Ella Ganz. Surviving siblings are Joe Givens (Minneapolis, MN) and Jean Sharp (Midland, MI).

Virginia's final years were buoyed by the many friends and family that supported and cared for her, and by the sense of humor, sharp wit, and critical thinking that she shared even into her final days. The example of her fearless creativity and unceasing curiosity about the wonder of human existence will be a source of inspiration to all who knew her. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10 AM at the Ridge Room, located at the Ridge At Riverwoods on 10 White Oak Drive, in Exeter, NH. Brewitt Funeral Service, 14 Pine St. Exeter, NH is assisting the family with arrangements. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Riverwoods At Exeter, 10 White Oak Drive, Exeter, NH.

http://obit.brewittfuneralhome.com/obitdisplay.html?task=Print&id=632428

[Her parents and older siblings lived in Goldfield, Wright County, Iowa]