Virginia “Jinny” Rose (Moss) Anderson was born on November 29, 1926 in Portland, Oregon. Her family moved to Mercer Island in 1930 – before there were bridges connecting the island to Seattle and Bellevue. She remained a Mercer Island resident for most of her life. She attended Franklin High School – arriving by ferryboat – and went to Whitman College where she pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Upon her return to Seattle she lived in a boarding house on Capitol Hill where she met the love of her life WWII veteran Fredrick Anderson. They were married in 1951 and moved back to Mercer Island in 1955 where they raised 4 children. Virginia was an active volunteer with local PTA’s, the MI Directory Guild, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Campfire, MI Historical Society and more. She loved her work as a volunteer at Emmy’s Attic Thrift Store for over 30 years. In 2000 she was devastated by the loss of Fred to pancreatic cancer. They had celebrated 48 years of marriage – enjoying ballroom dancing clubs, Rotary International excursions and frequent trips to the Oregon Coast.

After this loss, Virginia found solace and strength by joining the iconic senior walking group the Solemates and continued to walk with them as their most senior member for many years. Virginia loved all manner of performing arts and most genres of music. She was an avid gardener, a committed recycler, a National Parks enthusiast, and lover of all animals – sea otters in particular.

Virginia is survived by her four children – Karen Pettijohn (Mike), Joni Schwichtenberg (Gary), Eric Anderson (Correen), Greta Stednick (Dan) as well as 10 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.

A celebration of Virginia’s life will be held on December 19, 2019 at 1:00pm at Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Mercer Island.

Remembrances may be made to Providence Hospice of Seattle, Emmanuel Episcopal Memorial Fund or Forterra.