Virginia M Ryan

Virginia M Ryan obituary

Virginia M Ryan

Virginia Ryan Obituary

Obituary published on Legacy.com by Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel on Sep. 29, 2025.

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Virginia Marie Ryan, 101 years young, passed away September 22, 2025. Known as Jinny, she lived in Hingham since 1962. Born in Williamstown MA in 1924, she settled in Hingham because Main St. of Hingham reminded her of Main Street in Williamstown. During her long life she was proud to say she held a different occupation every quarter of her life. In 1962 she left the New England Telephone Company and opened a Branch of Walter Hall Real Estate in her North Street home allowing her to raise her daughter Jinnie and care for her elderly parents. In 1975 she became a mortgage officer for South Weymouth Savings, now known as South Shore Bank.

Jinny then returned to real estate working for Preferred Properties in Norwell. She soon decided it was time to try retirement. She volunteered at South Shore Hospital, attended exercise classes, travelled and graduated from the Hingham Citizen's Police Academy. During the 9/11 tragedy she was on a Mississippi Riverboat cruise which could not bring their passengers back to port. She enjoyed the gourmet food and meeting new friends and prayed for those who lost their lives.

She returned to her Hingham home and did a little gardening and decided to apply for the Senior Citizen Tax program and spent the next twenty years working at Hingham Town Hall for the Board of Health, but became a fixture in the Town Clerk's Office working for Eileen McCracken. No one filed voter registration cards and completed dog licenses like her. At age 96, the COVID pandemic forced her to stay home. She sat in her yard, read and cuddled with her rescue dog Jaden.

She is predeceased by her parents James Boland Ryan and Gertrude Barry Ryan, her sisters Gertrude E Dunleavey and Mary Clare Judge, her great great nephew Joshua Ryan Collette, whom she adored and we are sure they are together now. She is also predeceased by her son in law John M Walsh Jr, who passed away September 2024. Her nephew F. Barry Dunleavey, Joan Condon and James Ryan Dunleavey.

She is survived by her daughter Jinnie Ryan Walsh, nephews Joseph & Dayle Judge, Philip and Joan Dunleavey, Michael and Frances Dunleavey and John Dunleavey, her goddaughter Maureen Condon Mike and all her nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her Granddaughter by Proxy Erin M Galvin and her grand dogs, Mercedes and Maverick.

Jinnie's closest friends and classmates, who all lovingly referred to her as Ralphie all visited her throughout the years, we thank them, Lisa Gilbert Battista, Elizabeth Foster-Nolan, Lorri Valentino Costello, Russell Sheerin and Jay Suter.

Her caretaker in her final years became a member of the family, thank you Jessica Mundo, we love you! We thank the staff at Harbor House Nursing Facility for treating her like their own mother.

There will be a memorial mass on Friday October 3, 2025, at 11:00 am at St. Paul's Church in Hingham Square. Burial will be at another date. In lieu of flowers please forward donations directly to Dana Farber Cancer Center.

We love you mom! Rest peacefully and enjoy a shot of Jameson with John!

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Tom Patch

September 29, 2025

I had the fortune to engage with Virginia - "Jinny" - while she worked in the Town Clerk's office. I use the word "engage" as it is apropos because she possessed a great sense of humor and sharp insight (being the hallmark of the wit of her Irish heritage).

The use of the phrase "101 years young" could not be more accurate when describing Jinny (she enjoyed reminding me of the disparity between her chronological age and that of her physical and mental state). As shown by her obituary, she exceeded the actuarial odds for a person of her generation with a persevering well-lived life.

My condolences to her family and her friends.

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Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel

21 Pond Street, Hingham, MA 02043

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