Virginia Dare Hedges

She was born on January 30, 1939, in Middletown, MD. She attended Middletown Elementary School until moving to Brunswick, MD. She graduated from Brunswick High School in 1957 and credited the excellent education she received there for many of her future successes. She loved attending the Nifty 50’s Class Reunion every September (when she wasn’t traveling) and catching up with her classmates and siblings’ classmates. Virginia graduated from the Washington County Hospital School of Nursing in 1960 and received her B.S. in Nursing from the University of Maryland in 1980. She formed deep friendships with her nursing classmates from both institutions and stayed connected through the decades.

Virginia worked for the University of Maryland Health Center, was one of the first Lamaze instructors for the Childbirth Education Association, worked as a school health nurse for Prince George’s County, and ended her career as a public health nurse in Maternal and Infant Health, a position she deemed “not just a job, but an adventure.”

Virginia loved the mountains and the beach, where she found peace, joy, and inspiration. She had a deep passion for travel, which took her all over the world, from sailing to Nova Scotia to train rides in the Canadian Rockies. Highlights included visiting the Holy Land in Israel and trekking in Nepal, along with trips to Europe, Central America, almost every U.S. state, and Alaska over a dozen times! For many years, Virginia sang with the Encore Chorale, the nation’s largest choral arts organization for adults 55 and over. She was an active member of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Highland, Maryland, where she leaned strongly on her faith and made lasting friendships.

Virginia never met a stranger and cared deeply for her friends, maintaining contacts from elementary school to those she met just months ago. She could recall names, dates, places, and minute details from interactions across the years, her prolific memory leading the way in the deep connections she made with loved ones. Most of all, Virginia’s family meant the world to her. She was proud to be the youngest of eight children and kept her large extended family connected to her and to each other, down to second and third cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents, Ethel (Everhart) and Charles Sine, and all her brothers and sisters (a heavy lament on her heart), Chester Sine (Lillian), Anna Louise Tresek (Bill), Josephine Sine, Charles Sine Jr. (Pat), Donald Sine, Bettymae Sine, and Douglas Sine (Sue). She is survived by her children, Elizabeth Ripley (Ed), Joan Glynn (Bill), and Bill Hedges (Lisa); her grandchildren, Emily Carroll (Aidan), Noah Ripley (Andrija), Bill Glynn Jr., and Michael Glynn; her great-grandchildren, Elias Carroll, Ezra Carroll, and Fiona Barkley; her sister-in-law Dolly Sine; and many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, and extended family.

A memorial service will be held on November 23, 2024, at 11:00 am at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Highland, Maryland with a reception to follow at the church. Please join us to celebrate her life. For those unable to attend, the service will be streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/@mtzionhighland/streams.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Washington Co. Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Scholarship c/o the Community Foundation of Washington Co., Inc. https://www.cfwcmd.org/ or the Brunswick Area Fund ℅ The Community Foundation of Frederick County (https://www.frederickcountygives.org/funds/brunswick-area-fund/).