HOUSTON – Virginia Ellms Osterhus died July 30, 2006, in Houston, after a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The eldest daughter of Edward Horace and Vivienne Frame Ellms, Jinny was born June 18, 1922, in Boston. She attended Tusculum College in Greenville, Tenn. and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1943, majoring in history and Spanish. After graduating she joined the Navy, becoming a lieutenant. After her naval service, Jinny worked for five years in New York City in the art library of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, now Exxon/Mobil. There she met Sigurd Miles Osterhus, an employee of Standard Oil. They were married November 1948, in New York City. Jinny was an avid reader, journaler and birding enthusiast. She belonged to the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters and was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. An expert cook, Jinny’s family get-togethers with her sons and their families were marked by good food and lively conversation. Her passion for bird watching took her from the Arctic to Africa, from Europe to South America and the Galapagos Islands. Jinny’s journals from these trips are filled with sparkling language and astute observations about the cultures that she explored. Jinny lived many places during Sig’s career with Exxon, including Libya, Colombia, Venezuela, Alaska and Texas. She continued to travel extensively in her later years, but her favorite destination was always her lakeside home in Dexter; where she spent each summer with her sons, and later, with her sons’ families. A loving mother, Jinny will be remembered for her strong mind and forthright manner. She was an independent woman, whose voice made a difference in the lives of all who knew her. Jinny was predeceased by her parents; and by her sister, Barbara Ellms Dover. She is survived by her husband, Sigurd; her sister, Shirley Ellms Hatch; her stepmother, Jean Pugh Ellms; her sons and their wives, Douglas, Philip and Janette, Monty, Peter and Kim and Chris; by her grandchildren, Dan, Lauren, Luke, Rachel, Erik, Sarah, Andrew, Christine, John Mark, Katie and Christopher; as well as by her nieces, Randy, Sarah, Susan and Jeannie. A burial service will be held noon Wednesday, Aug. 16, at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Dexter. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Maine Audubon Society.
VIRGINIA ELLMS OSTERHUS
