The family of Virginia Nicodemus is grieved to announce her death on Tuesday, January 17th in Boulder, Colorado. Virginia passed away from Alzheimer’s and related complications.
Virginia Ann Gutteridge was born June 1,1930, to parents Christine and Hugh Gutteridge. Ginny spent most of her youth in Vincennes, Indiana. In her youth, she passed many happy summers fishing with her parents and spending time on her grandparents’ farm near Lawrenceville, IL. Virginia was always studious and did well in school. She also had many friends and enjoyed attending school dances. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Vincennes in 1948 and went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Ginny was very close to her mother and father and wrote them detailed letters of her life up north during college and afterwards.
At Northwestern, she majored in political science. Her good friend Jeanne Doub spoke of her as a “brilliant, intense student.” While Virginia was very focused on her academics, Mrs. Doub said that Ginny also loved to have fun and socialize. She was active in her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, and served as house president in her senior year.
Ginny graduated with honors and went on to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. She chose a newspaper emphasis and was later the first female graduate assistant for the program’s core reporting class. While in journalism school, she also did a summer internship that she enjoyed very much at Redbook magazine in New York City.
Virginia met her husband Charles Nicodemus (Nic) when they were both seniors at Northwestern University. They were both accepted into the journalism program at Northwestern, although Virginia entered the program first while Nic went into the military. They married at Christmastime of 1952. After graduating from the journalism program, Ginny worked in southern Indiana while Nick was in the military, first stationed at Camp Breckinridge and then at Fort Knox. Upon his discharge, Nick completed his journalism degree. After they had both graduated, Nic and Ginny began pursuing their lifelong passion for travel by taking an extended, six-month trip to Europe.
Upon their return, they began to build their family. They had four children—Matthew, Andrew, James, and Laura. At the same time, Nic’s journalism took them from Chicago, to Springfield, Illinois, to Washington D.C. They came back to the Chicago area in 1967, settled in Evanston, and lived there for the next 35 years. In that period, Nic worked first for the Chicago Daily News and then the Sun Times.
Nic worked long hours as an investigative reporter and as a union negotiator. Ginny managed the challenges of a large family with grace and determination and was a mother whom all of her children loved. She and Nic always supported their children wholly, both in youth and later in adult life.
Both Ginny and Nic had a deep love of the outdoors, and long family camping trips were one of their main forms of summer family recreation. In their later years, Ginny and Nic put much of their energy into international travel, with destinations that included Ireland, Taiwan, and Nepal. Ginny always loved being outside, whether it was relaxing in the sun or cultivating flowers in the garden. Additionally, she and Nic both had a deep affection for animals and passed that love onto their children. She also had a lifelong love of music and dance. In her final years, when she had lost many of her capacities, Ginny always loved listening to music.
When Ginny began working again as her children grew older, she had a number of jobs that utilized her communications skills but which were shaped around the needs of her family. She worked in the Political Science Department at Northwestern. She also spent a number of years as communications director for the International Home Furnishings Representatives Association. Her final job in the Chicago area was handling internal and external communications for Construction Technology Laboratories, a division of Portland Cement Company. Ginny was also a voracious reader and could often be found reading late into the evening.
Ginny and Nic retired to Boulder, Colorado in 2001 and bought a comfortable home in the middle of town. This allowed them to be both near the mountains and close to their son Andrew, which gave them great happiness. Sadly, Nic contracted pancreatic cancer in 2007 and lived close to another two years, dying in the fall of 2008.
Ginny was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2006 and experienced a decline over the next ten years that ended with her death last week. She was fortunate to have the sustained, attentive care of her son Andrew, who was also joined by her son Matt and his son Brian. Ginny also received tender, sustained and conscientious care from the staff at Dignity Care in Boulder. Everyone who worked with her commented on the grace, dignity and fortitude that she displayed as her illness progressed. Ginny’s greatest source of happiness was her family, and she was fortunate to be surrounded by them in her final years and moments.
There will be a viewing 12:30-2:00 pm EST on Saturday, January 28th at Gardner Brockman Funeral Home at 505 Main St. in Vincennes, IN. The graveside service will be followed at 2:30 pm EST at Lawrenceville City Cemetery in Lawrenceville, IL.