Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
GORDON, Virginia Cunningham
GORDON, Virginia Cunningham (Ames, IA, June 15, 1931--Dubuque, IA, 2022). The daughter of Ray and Ethel Cunningham, Virginia graduated from Iowa State University in June of 1953 with a BS in Home Economics Education. It was there that she met her husband, Gene GORDON. They married December 19, 1952 and settled in Dubuque where Gene, an architect, designed and built their home where they raised their five children: Sandra (Haupt), Steven, Michael, Douglas, and Mark. Virginia was very involved in her children’s activities. She was a Girl Scouts leader and a den mother in Boy Scouts. All the Gordon children were swimmers and she received an award from the YMCA swim team for her 19 years as a parent volunteer. She was the PTA president for BRYANT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WASHINGTON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, and DUBUQUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. She taught Sunday School at WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH for 20 years. She was also active in the church as an elder, a deacon, trained Stephen’s Minister and children’s tutor. In her later years she served on the Church’s building and grounds committee and she coordinated the funeral receptions at the church.
She was the president of every community organization in which she participated: PEO, The Sunshine Circle, The United Way, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, Friendship Force, and the Head Injury Support Group.
Virginia was proud of her work with the Symphony helping children see concerts with the implementation of ARTS TREK. Her work with the United Way was satisfying as she helped to identify the needs within the city and shape the conversations about how best to meet those needs.
In the early 1970s, Gene had a vision to start a ski area outside of Dubuque. In 1973, SUNDOWN MOUNTAIN had its opening season. During the construction, she was not afraid to roll up her sleeves and get the work done. Gene and Virginia revived their stellar construction teamwork in 1979, when their cabin in Minnesota burned down. The following summer, Gene redesigned the cabin and Ginny, three of her sons, and their friends rebuilt the cabin. “Pick up your feet, we’ve got a deadline to meet,” she’d say.
Virginia and Gene enjoyed traveling with the Friendship Force as well as hosting people from other countries—Guatemala, Sweden, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Japan, Bahamas, Philippines.
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Source:
Obituaries, Dubuque Today.