Virginia Marie Krawiec

Virginia (Ginny) Marie Krawiec was expected to share a birthday with Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth.  Instead, always in a hurry, she was the first “preemie” born at the new Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey on February 16, 1926.  Weighing only three pounds, she inspired the nuns to pray through the night on her behalf, and, ultimately, her parents, Ginny and Robert Morton took their middle child home.  

Ginny’s older brother was Bob; her younger sibling, Dave, joined the family five years later and the family was complete.  Her extended family was huge as her mother had nine brothers and sisters and five half-brothers and sisters, who technically, were “half-cousins.”  This twist in the family tree was the result of her grandfather marrying first Rose and then Bridget Radigan when Rose passed away.

Ginny attended Teaneck Elementary and High Schools, graduating in 1942.  The following year she entered Englewood Hospital Nursing School as a member of the US Cadet Nurse Corps and graduated in 1946 as a registered nurse.

On May 8, 1954, she married Frank Krawiec.  She returned to school and graduated from New York University with her bachelor’s degree in health education and administration in 1958.  Ginny then returned to Holy Name Hospital as a clinical instructor.  

Ginny worked in medical/surgical supervision at Englewood Hospital and others in New Jersey.  After her children, Ginger and Richard, were in school, she applied to work as a school nurse.  However, her qualifications in nursing education prompted an offer of a teaching position at Woodbridge Junior High School. She taught health and later, health and sex education from November 1965 until her retirement in December 1987.  In 1991, she and Frank moved to Lawrenceville, GA, to be closer to her family, particularly her three (now grown) grandsons:  Richard (33), Brian (32) and Christopher (30).

Ginny and Frank were very outgoing and became active in their church, the local AARP group, bowling leagues and much more. Ginny also was a member of the Gwinnett Retired Teachers Association and a Red Hat lady. She volunteered for Eastside Hospital and the St. Vincent de Paul Society among others. Together, she and Frank traveled near and far; after he died in 1994, Ginny continued to see the world with the good friends she made in Georgia.

In 2017, Ginny made the move into assisted living where she quickly became a beloved member of the Dogwood Forest community. Unfortunately, COVID arrived on the scene, and she experienced the isolation of lockdown and the loss of some good friends.

This past February, Ginny enthusiastically celebrated her 96th birthday, first at Holbrook where she lived and then at dinner with Ginger’s family. The rest of 2022 wasn’t nearly as pleasant because she suffered two hip fractures and spent months in rehab working her way back to mobility. True to form, Ginny resumed her favorite activities and enjoyed being with her friends until she had a stroke in early November. Ginny was well-cared for and loved by the Holbrook staff and the hospice professionals. She put up with being comfortable but incapacitated for just a few weeks and took her leave from us on Monday night, November 28. She is survived by her daughter, Ginger (Jack Regan) and son, Rich (Darleen) and her three grandsons plus cousins, nieces, nephews and great-nieces and -nephews all over the US.

The family will receive friends from 4:00-8:00 pm on Sunday, December 4, at A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home. A funeral mass will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, December 5, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. Interment will be at Gwinnett Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Best Friends Animal Society, Heifer Project, or CaringBridge.