Virginia Jeanne Cummings

Cummings, Virginia Jeanne, passed on March 4 to join her husband of over 60 years, John in heaven while in hospice at John Knox Village in Pompano Beach, Florida. This passing followed a long battle with seemingly impossible catastrophes in her medical condition and battle she did, so much so that her doctors agreed that Virginia Cummings didn't have nine lives but 39 lives. Of those first 38 she lived each with joy and the gusto of happiness. As a teenager Virginia Jones came to Florida from Charleston, SC with her mother, Alma Davis, one of televisions first women hosts at WCSC TV, to live with her father, Sam Jones, who was a policeman in Dania, Florida. Sam is fondly remembered today by many senior citizens of Dania as the Policeman who would give them a dime, if he had one, as he guarded the school crossing in Dania. Miss Jones married young to John William Cummings Sr., who with his brother-in-law, Doctor Francis Brunson, also of Charleston, operated the first two private hospitals in Broward County. The first, in Hollywood, Florida would become Hollywood Memorial. The second, Pine Crest Sanatorium on East Broward Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale, would be converted by Mr. Cummings in partnership with a local educator, Mrs. Mae McMillan into Pine Crest School. Virginia and her husband John lived on the campus of Pine Crest School, and raised two children, John Jr., and Martha Jean. Virginia, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, became active in the social and business side of growing Fort Lauderdale. She founded Cummings Realty and served as president of the Women's Council of the Fort Lauderdale Board of Realtors, and was an active writer for the Gold Coast Buyer's Guide, and Florida Living magazine. She became a very successful Realtor, and the company grew until it moved from Oakland Park at Bayview Drive to a newly constructed building which was the first building on Commercial Blvd. East of US1 and West of the Intracoastal Waterway. In the early 60's, when the Broward site of Pine Crest School was sold by Mr. Cummings to developers, he joined Virginia at Cummings Realty. When John Jr. and his wife Gloria came home from Europe where they were married, John Jr, better known as "Jack" also joined the company, and later became its president. In 1974, his sister, Martha also joined the company making it a truly family company. In 2013 the company changed its name to Cummings Realty & Development Company and remains active in real estate development from the USA to Europe. Jack remains as the company President, and he also is a well known and much published author of both fiction and non-fiction works. Virginia Cummings is survived by her son, Jack of Fort Lauderdale and his wife, Gloria; and her daughter, Martha Wells of Saluda, NC and her husband, Daniel. Grandchildren, Robert Cummings of Thousand Oaks, California and his wife, Vielka, Anne Marie Cummings of Ithaca, New York, Alan Wells of Hendersonville, North Carolina and Heather Allison of Virginia Beach, Virginia and her husband, Kevin; and great-grandchildren, Kassandra, Sebastian, and Brosnan Cummings of Thousand Oaks California. As the family is presently scattered across the globe, a memorial service will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in her name to Marine Toys for Tots, Virginia's favorite charity.