NAPLES, Fla. – Virginia Barker Holmberg, MD passed away April 3, 2005, at Bentley Village Care Center. She was born March 4, 1913, in Bay Village, a daughter of Alice Martin Barker and Raymond Howard Barker. She had been a resident of Naples, Fla. for 27 years, a resident of Bentley Village for 14 years and formerly a resident of Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She attended Hathaway Brown School, Skidmore College, and received her medical degree from Western Reserve University in 1939. After an internship at University Hospitals, she completed a pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. She had a busy pediatric practice in Cleveland while her husband, Robert E. Holmberg MD, served as Flight Surgeon with the Army 8th Aircorps in England. After World War II, she devoted her full time, energy, and passion to raising three sons, resuming a smaller pediatric practice once they obtained boyhood. She served as school physician for Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights and supervised the Well Baby Clinic in the City of Cleveland Heights. She was a president of the Family Health Association of Cleveland, Secretary of the Pediatric Society of Northeastern Ohio, and member of the Florence Crittenton Society in Cleveland. She was very active in her church communities, serving Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland and Moorings Presbyterian Church in Naples, where she had dear friends in the Sarah Circle. She had a great love for babies and children, devoting herself not only to her family but to the many children she helped during her pediatric career. She also loved nature. She spent many happy summers on Monhegan Island, where her parents had purchased a summer cottage when she was young. She later returned occasionally with her family, teaching her sons the wonders of tide pools and the basics of rock climbing. She also loved the family summer cottage on Lake Chautauqua, N.Y., where she introduced her sons to their love of swimming, boats and sailing. Her hobbies included antiques and gardening. She was active in the Herb Society of the Cleveland Garden Center. Surviving are her devoted husband of 64 years, Dr Robert; and sons, Dr Robert Jr. and wife, Joan, of Bangor, William and wife, Patricia, of Boston, Mass., and John and partner, Rose Broe, of Brisbane, Australia; four grandchildren of whom she was very proud, Tim, Molly, Steve, and Betsy. The family wishes to extend their great appreciation for the loving care provided by the aides and nurses at Bentley Village Care Center. A Memorial Service will be held 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at the Bentley Village West Clubhouse Auditorium. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Endowment Fund of Moorings Presbyterian Church, 791 Harbour Drive, Naples, FL 34103.
VIRGINIA BARKER HOLMBERG, MD
