Tribute to Virginia (Gini) Baird

September 22, 1930 to October 13, 2023

Gini is survived by two daughters – Claudia (Rich) and Susan.  She is also survived by one granddaughter (Alexa).

Here are some of our favorite memories.

Accomplishments.  Gini got a Home Economics degree from the Oklahoma State University.  She was pretty good at it and made fabulous apple pies, clothes, and doll clothes.  She was a home economics substitute teacher for several years early in her marriage.  To further prove her home-making talents, she managed to teach both daughters to sew – and taught one daughter to cook.

Gini's prized possessions?  Maybe her Indian rugs and pottery.  But her very most prized possession was her beloved husband of 64 years, Paul.  Gini and Paul met many times at family gatherings because her brother was married to Paul's sister!

Quirks.  Growing up in Oklahoma, Gini loved hot weather.  (Paul said that she was part lizard.)  And the heat was one of the reasons that she and Paul moved to Green Valley, Arizona in 1990. Visitors to their home often complained that they had trouble sleeping in their house at night.  Gini told them to open their bedroom door to the outside if they needed to cool off.   Hmmm… that didn't really help in Arizona!

Another quirk was that Gini couldn't pass up a bargain or throw things away.  Growing up during the depression, she was always thinking ahead.  You just never knew whether those white gloves would come back into fashion and be needed for church – or if there would be a severe cold spell in Arizona and those wool dickies would come in handy.  Those socks that are on sale?  They were going home with her …

Creativity.  Gini helped train the family dog to play dead whenever the kids pointed toy guns at her and yelled "bang."  Another creative outlet was decorating Gini's 5-foot outdoor metal lady for the holidays.  The lady dressed for Christmas (a Santa hat and nutcracker admirers), for Easter (a flowered straw hat and bunny admirers), for the Fourth of July (an Uncle Sam hat and flags), and for Mardi Gras (a carnival mask, empty martini glasses, and beads).

Traveling.  Gini absolutely loved to travel.  Paul and Gini lived in Oklahoma, Washington DC, Texas, California, Colorado, and Arizona.  After Paul retired, they traveled to 53 countries, including Spain, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa (all the national parks there), Turkey, Egypt, Chile, Japan, Iceland, and the Galapagos Islands.  Her absolute favorite though was a three-month tour of Australia, where they tent-camped, hiked Ayers Rock several times, and fed kangaroos.  When Gini wanted to return to Australia again, Paul told her that they needed to do it soon – before he was too old to put up the tent!

Volunteering.  Gini was an avid volunteer.  She served in various positions in hiking clubs, church, birding organizations, the Girl Scouts, thrift stores, the nature conservancy, the hummingbird center in Patagonia, the library, and her favorite AAUW.

Nature.  Gini and Paul loved Madera Canyon with all its hiking and birding.  One of their favorite activities was to bird watch.  (Arizona has some of the best birdwatching in the U.S.).  But Gini didn't just watch.  A local road runner trained Gini to feed him each morning.  He'd tap on their sliding glass door with his beak early in the morning.  Gini would get frozen meat balls from the freezer, heat them, and then roll them out onto the patio.  The bird would eat and eat until he finally waddled away.

Was Gini perfect?  No, her house was fanatically clean (drove at least one daughter nuts) – and she hoarded and snuck chocolate.

We love her.  We miss her.

------------------------------------

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to:

Tucson Audubon Society

300 East University Blvd #120

Tucson, AZ 85705