Virginia Johnson
Feb. 22, 1931-June 7, 2016
Palo Alto, California
Submitted by Dave Johnson

Ms. Johnson was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and as a young person also lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, South Bend, Indiana and Washington, D.C. Her father, Courtney Johnson, from Chicago, was an automobile executive and one-time assistant secretary of the Army. Her mother was Pauline Watson Johnson from Flint, Michigan. Ginger attended St. Mary's Academy in South Bend, The Madeira School in Virginia and received a B.A. in biology from Vassar College and an M.A. in Teaching Secondary School Science from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Ginger taught general science in a District of Columbia junior high school. In a U.S. Navy school in Naples, Italy, she taught physics, chemistry, biology and general science. She moved to New York and became the biology editor at Holt, Rinehart and Winston. For several years she was managing editor of "Modern Biology" by Moon, Mann and Otto. She had used the textbook in high school, which got her interested in biology, and ended up being its editor. It was the leading high school biology textbook for nearly 50 years.

She came to Palo Alto in 1966 to take a job with Addison-Wesley Publishing Company in Menlo Park, where she held a variety of positions over 28 years, the last of which was executive editor of Secondary Mathematics. Following Addison-Wesley, Ginger briefly ran a volunteer drivers' program at the Palo Alto Red Cross and then became director of a capital campaign and of planned giving at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in San Jose. More recently she was the director of transportation and handyman services at Avenidas. While at Avenidas she founded the RoadRunners program in which volunteer drivers take seniors where they want to go. She also organized a series of conferences known as the Ask Not series, which promoted greater engagement in the community. Recently she has been a volunteer at Avenidas helping in the fund development department. She also organized a conference on the various transportation options in the area, and has been raising funds for the capital campaign.

Ms. Johnson served on the following boards: Planned Parenthood Mar-Monte, the Palo Alto Red Cross, the Palo Alto Centennial and The Girls' Middle School. Other volunteer activities include fundraising for all of her schools and for the organizations she served with. She was a volunteer at Goldwater Memorial Hospital in New York, at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital and Project Read at the Menlo Park Library. She was active in the Democratic Party, doing precinct work and voter registration and in the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto.

Ginger is survived by eight nieces and nephews and their offspring, all of whom appreciated her interest in their lives and her generous spirit. She helped many family members with their education and was always available to discuss career options with them. She also shared her love of travel with her family and friends and in so doing helped open minds to other cultures. She had a great sense of humor, an inquisitive mind and absolutely loved discussing politics.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers contributions be sent to Avenidas's Endowment Fund at 450 Bryant St., Palo Alto, 94301.