46352. Virginia Huntington Dodge
The San Diego Union-Tribune (CA)
July 16, 2008Virginia Huntington (Dodge) Murphy was the first of two children born to Annie Bailey (Gilmore) and Lewis Henry Dodge on December 16, 1917, in Newton, Massachusetts.
Lewis, a contractor whose prominent family had lived in New England since 1629, had been married previously and Virginia joined a growing family that included three brothers, Clarence Oren, Edward Lewis, and Earl Farwell; a sister, Pearl Edith, having died in 1916. Annie and Lewis would give Virginia another brother, Robert Livingston, in 1921.
In the summer of 1923, tragedy struck the family as they returned home to Nausauket, Rhode Island, after a visit with relatives and found their house burned to the ground with only the foundation remaining. This prompted the family's move to San Diego in the fall on uncertain roads and with five children. They arrived and camped in Balboa Park at the now Boy Scout Headquarters, until eventually moving into a home on Marlborough Drive. Lewis Dodge soon built a Dutch Colonial home on Biona Drive and then a few years later on Van Dyke Avenue, where the family lived. Uncertain times during the Depression and a loss of the family's fortunes lead to Lewis' early death in 1934 .
Virginia's mother, Annie, became the sole support for her young family, with government assistance helping to keep the wolf at bay and the family afloat.
Virginia graduated from Hoover High School, in their second graduating class of 1935. She soon was employed by Pacific Bell as a telephone operator and later in management, where she would remain until retirement. As a young woman she was a member of the Theosophical Society of Point Loma. She was always an avid reader, enjoyed needlepoint and gardening, and traveled extensively throughout the world.
Virginia married a very successful Utah Tailoring ladies clothing salesman in 1971, Owen Murphy, and moved to Indianapolis.
Owen's three grown children and grandchildren welcomed Virginia as their mother and grandmother. While in Indianapolis, she was deeply involved in social activities, continued her travels, and volunteered extensively, her favorite charity being the Winola Memorial Hospital. Her loving personality was exhibited in her caring for her husband's brother and sister-in-law and her aunt, Louise, in their declining years. After twenty years of marriage Owen passed away. Virginia's return to San Diego met a desire to live in a more favorable climate, be near her brothers, and move into the home Edward and Robert Dodge had built and where her mother had last lived. Travel, reading, and volunteerism in the La Jolla Women's Club and other organizations kept her active. Her younger brother's family and helping to found and direct the genealogical Dodge Family Association(http://www.dodge family.org) gave her great pleasure. The conservative Episcopal Church, St. Mary's, 741 Cerro Gordo Avenue, San Diego, remained a deep source of comfort and faith. Developing macular degeneration soon eliminated her driving and independence, but she quickly took on other activities, becoming an energetic student at the Braille Institute, listening to audio tapes, and participating with programs for the blind. During the last few years her brother Robert was her care-giver, and her greatest enjoyment was activities with her brother's family. Virginia's health continued to deteriorate and her physical activity lessened .
At age 90, Virginia's heart finally gave out and she passed away in Scripps Mercy Hospital with Robert and Hilda at her side, July 6, 2008.
Virginia was loved and will be missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her brother Robert and his wife Hilda of San Diego, their children Peter William Dodge of La Mesa, Marianne Elizabeth (Dodge) Zeigler of San Diego, and Patricia Dodge Simpkins of Ramona, Owen Murphy's children: Barbara Murphy James, Robert Owen Murphy, Michele Murphy Crume, and many grandchildren.