Virginia Elizabeth Dunn

11/03/1916 - 01/28/2011

DUNN, Virginia Elizabeth (Varnell) "Ginna"


Ginna died January 28, 2011 in Seattle.

She was born on November 3, 1916 at 2028 West Pacific in Browne's Addition, Spokane, Washington. She was the only child of Martha Elizabeth Winston Varnell and George Marshall Varnell. Her father was a sports writer and editor for The Spokane Chronicle, the football and basketball coach at Gonzaga University in 1908 and 1909, and a collegiate referee. Her grandfather, Patrick Henry Winston, was an attorney, newspaper editor and served as United States Attorney for the District of Washington in 1890 and as Washington State Attorney General from 1897 to 1901.

Ginna attended Miss Hellaniak's kindergarten and Washington Grade School in Spokane. In 1924 the family moved to Seattle when her father took a job in the sports department of The Seattle Times where he worked for the next 42 years. The family lived in a number of apartments in Seattle before settling into their long-time apartment at 1005 East Roy on Capital Hill. Ginna attended Seward Elementary School, Lowell School and Broadway High School. She graduated in 1933. She was an English major at the University of Washington, graduating in 1937. At the University she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her senior year.

During World War II Ginna worked for the government as a censor reading mail to and from the war front. Later she worked in the office of Codes and Siphers.

On December 29, 1945 she married Maurice Spencer Dunn. Mike had returned from 38 months of active duty in Hawaii as a member of the United States Naval Reserve. After their honeymoon they returned to Seattle to live in the Dunn family house in north Seattle in what is now the Dunn Gardens.

Mike worked 41 years for Peoples National Bank, as the first and long-time manager of the First Hill branch and later as a Vice President at the main office. From 1956-1963 while her children were students at Broadview Elementary School, Ginna was the full-time volunteer librarian at Broadview.

Ginna is survived by her daughter Virginia (Vinny) Dunn of London and two sons, Patrick Dunn and Ned Dunn of Seattle, her daughters-in-law Susan Dunn and Patty Carr, and her eight grandchildren: Eden Sanders, Kate Sanders, Rachael Sanders, Oliver Sanders, Katherine Dunn, Sara Kirschenman, Michael Dunn and Carson Dunn. She was pre-deceased by her daughter Dorothy in 1950, her husband Mike in 1981, and her son-in-law Raymond Sanders in 2002.

A memorial service is scheduled at the Florence Henry Memorial Chapel in The Highlands at 11:00 am on Saturday, February 26, 2011. Please call 206-363-4319 if you need directions. Remembrances and celebration at the Seattle Golf Club at Noon.

Memorial contributions in Ginna's name can me made to St. Dunstan's Church of the Highlands Parish, P. O. Box 33029, Seattle, WA, 98133; The Dunn Gardens, P. O. Box 77126, Seattle, WA, 98177; or the Mike and Ginna Dunn LEEP Endowment, Lakeside School, 14050 1st Avenue N.E., Seattle, WA 98125.