Virginia “Ginny” Patterson

Virginia L. Patterson, 86, of Endwell, NY, and Martha’s Vineyard Island, MA, passed away 6 August 2015. Ginny was born on February 3, 1929, in Poughkeepsie, NY, to Raymond Flint Long and Mary Constance Long. Her father’s coal and lumber yard was one of Ginny’s favorite childhood playgrounds. Her family also spent summers on Martha’s Vineyard Island in Massachusetts, where they had vacationed for generations. Her father was a charter member of the East Chop Beach Club, in Oak Bluffs, where Ginny spent many care-free summer days.
Ginny graduated from Emma Willard School in Troy, NY, and Wellesley College, in Wellesley, MA, where she earned a degree in Spanish. After graduation, Ginny worked for a time in Guatemala and then in Washington, D.C. On September 14, 1957, Ginny married another long-time Vineyard summer resident, George Arnold Long. The couple wintered first in Stamford, Connecticut, and then moved to Weston, Connecticut to raise their family. Ginny was a stay-at-home mother for their two daughters, but she was driven to help others. She was active in their church, and worked with mentally handicapped adults through the Friday’s Children Program in Westport, CT. Ginny was also an active member of the Spiritual Frontier Fellowship and the Philanthropic Educational Organization, an organization promoting educational opportunities for women, where she was a chapter president for her area for many years. Through the PEO group, Ginny worked as a volunteer tutor for their adult literacy program, helping adults to improve their reading skills and to achieve their high school equivalency diplomas. As a fund raising activity for the Martha’s Vineyard Island PEO chapter, Ginny gave island tours during the summer months to visiting national PEO members and their friends and families. She always enjoyed showing off her beloved island! Ginny was also a volunteer at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for many years. After the death of her husband, in June 1985, Ginny moved from Weston, Connecticut to Edenton, North Carolina. But she was always drawn back to the Island, so she moved to Martha’s Vineyard full time, continuing the volunteer work that she so enjoyed at the hospital and with PEO. She was also an active volunteer in the hospice store on the Island, helping to raise money to support this vital program. Ginny was an avid walker, taking daily walks all over the island, her favorite being the trail through the Waskosim’s Rock Reservation. She also enjoyed flower arranging, reading, visiting with friends, traveling throughout the world, and history, including early Native American histories, which took her on an archeological dig in Arizona. Ginny remarried on May 24, 2003, to Roswell Patterson, another long time Vineyard summer resident, and a winter resident of Waverly, PA. Ros and Ginny continued to spend their summers on the island and winters in Waverly for many years until they moved to Endwell, NY, to retire closer to Ros’s family. Throughout their marriage, Ginny and Ros continued to travel, enjoying such places as Panama, Portugal, the Galapagos Islands, and ocean cruising, including a special trip around The Horn of South America. Ginny is survived by her two daughters, Dr. Jacqueline Long of Chicago, IL, and Mrs. Susan Baeder of Ferndale, WA, and by her two granddaughters, Kelly Baeder and Jamie Baeder, both of Ferndale, WA.
The family has requested that memorial donations be made to Heifer International, 1 World Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72202, info@heifer.org.