Virginia was my lifelong friend, and also fellow classmate and roommate at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. We were two of five women in the 150 member medical class of 1972. Virginia was a classic beauty both inside and out as well as extremely intelligent. She was always helping others as a doctor, wife, mother, sister, and friend. Her oldest daughter Ann has Down Syndrome and Virginia was an advocate for her and all of the disabled in her community. I had the good fortune to see her two weeks before her death. She knew that with her Parkinson's disease she needed more assistance, and that her daughter Ann and husband Ira needed to be in a safe place. The month before her death, she and Ira had moved to Grand Living at Bridgewater. She was so happy to be with Ira in assisted living in Coraville and know that Ann was in a sheltered home nearby around other young people. She was very proud of her daughter Katie who lived with her husband in Des Moines and had a PhD in environmental engineering from the University of Iowa. She was always thinking of others and loving her family. She was the one that everyone in the family depended on. She will be missed by many--especially me.

Dr. RoseMary Mason

retired family practice physician in Denison, Iowa

attached is a picture of Virginia and me at the

40th University of Iowa Medical School reunion in 2012