Virginia Bates

Virginia Bates, 96, of Norwalk, CT, died peacefully on October 15 after a long illness. A beloved mother, grandmother, cousin, aunt and friend, Virginia will always be remembered for her extraordinary kindness, intensely creative spirit, wild sense of humor and immensely warm heart.

Virginia was born in 1927 in New York City to her parents Mavis and Ward and grew up with her beloved younger siblings, Mary and Burt.

Throughout her life, Virginia created magic wherever she went. When her children were young, she would enchant them with her original "Belinda Jones Brown" stories, eventually creating a world so wonderful that all the neighborhood kids would come sit on a striped blanket in the yard to hear them.

Virginia was not only a weaver of magical tales, she was also a prolific artist. From magazine and book illustrations to sculpting, doll-making, printmaking, painting, creating fanciful Christmas monsters (friendly!) and toppers for wedding cakes, she took great joy in all of it. She was forever doodling on whatever was handy, from cocktail napkins to envelopes. When there was something to draw on, she drew (often dragons)! She placed in art competitions and sold many pieces over the years. She also wrote and illustrated children's books, was the editor of the Arts Section of the Darien News Review for many years and a founding member of the Rowayton Arts Center.

She was preceded in death by her two sons, Philip and David, and is survived by her daughter, Janet, son-in-law Mark, and three grandchildren Hannah, Sarah and David.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (she loved gorillas!) https://gorillafund.org/ or the World Wildlife Fund https://www.worldwildlife.org/. Services will be private.