Virginia McConnell "Jidge" Mearns

February 26, 1923-August 23, 2014

My grandmother, Jidge, was born to James Patrick and Francis Marion Drake McConnell in Chicago, Illinois. Herself raised in Joliet, Jidge raised her own family of three children, dog after dog and a TR3 with her husband, my grandfather, James Landis Torcom at 369 Parkview Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois. The once suburban Chicago mother, socialite, golfer, voracious reader and world class shopper retired in 1974 from her last home in Illinois, Wood Dale, to Fripp Island, South Carolina. Possibly the oldest continuous resident of Fripp, Jidge was well know for her quick wit, keen blue eyes, patriotism, loyalty and love-hate relationships with almost everyone she encountered. One thing is for certain, if you ever had the opportunity to meet Jidge, and the chances are that if you did not already know her, she initiated that encounter, you remember it, and depending upon the day, were better for the experience. Jidge was a member of country clubs: Itasca and Medinah in the Chicago area, and later, Fripp Island and Royal Pines in the Low Country. Jidge was a fine duplicate bridge player and a military wife. She adored living on the beach and reigning over her grandchildren and canine companion, Foster. Self- entitled "The Great One", she was youthful, energetic, independent, resilient and full of sass all manifested in the leg lifts she voluntarily performed through her early eighties, punctuated with a "here's looking at you babe!" She will be remembered for the fuzzy dice, the vanity plates, the three stars bumper sticker, for not being a "short order cook", her "Salty Dogs", and her nightly golf cart rides with Foster. She was preceded in death by my aforementioned grandfather, James Landis Torcom and more recently by Lt. General Fillmore Kennedy Mearns. She leaves behind a family who was convinced until the end that she would outlive them all, including her three children, Marcia Torcom Meyer (Gary), Landis Torcom Bieke (James) and James Epram Torcom and her grandchildren, including myself, James Ryan Meyer (Jennifer), Samantha Meyer du Pont (William), Hilary Landis Vogt (Phillip) and Hayes Bieke Pettigrew (Robert). She also leaves behind her great grand children, Elizabeth Drake Meyer, Nicklaus Ryan Meyer, Charles James Vogt, Henry Philander du Pont and Beatrice Esmeralda du Pont. Some have kindly asked about arrangements for a memorial or formal service for which I shall reply in Jidge's words when she was asked the same question, "What the hell do I care? I won't be there." That was Jidge, and for those who knew her, you will laugh at this. I hope that you did get the chance to know her. She was one of a kind, and I tell my children how lucky we were to have had her. The greatest compliment that I can pay her is that they agree with me. Jidge, we all love and miss you, and you will always be the "one for me". The eldest, James Ryan "Dooley" Meyer Memorials may be sent to the Humane Association of the Low Country 347 Sea Island Parkway, Beaufort, SC 29907 (843)525-1831 A celebration Of Jidge's life is planned for some time this October.