SCOTTSDALE - Virginia C. Hawkins, 89, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, died on Saturday, December 12, 2015, in Scottsdale, AZ. Virginia (Ginny) was born on January 29, 1926 in West Haven, CT, daughter of Christian and Caroline (Hummel) Smith. She grew up in West Haven and Orange, graduating from Hillhouse High School in 1943. She studied nursing at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital School of Nursing, but returned to Connecticut to study at Larson Junior College in New Haven, and met her husband, Ellsworth Hawkins, at a mixer while he was a Naval ROTC student at Yale. They were married on his graduation day, February 22, 1946, and after his naval service they started a family with three daughters, Sharyn, Leslie and Amy, eventually buying a home in Wallingford, where she lived until 1987. Ginny returned to school at night, then days, while raising her family, receiving a degree in elementary education in 1961 from Southern Connecticut State University. She started her teaching career at Parker Farms School in Wallingford, and after 7 years there, received her master's degree at SCSU, and became a reading specialist at DePaolo Middle School in Southington, retiring in 1986. Ginny was passionate about reading both professionally and personally, and passed along her love of reading to family, who have fond memories of frequent trips to the children's section of the local library most weeks, and later enjoyable hours browsing through bookstores in so many locations. There was always a book nearby, with words and pictures to capture her interest, until the end of her life. Flowers and plants were also a lifelong passion, and beautiful gardens surrounded her homes in Connecticut and North Carolina. She was a long-time member of the United Methodist Churches in Yalesville, CT and Shallotte, NC. Ginny loved to travel, to explore new places and having a keen interest in history, she always liked to spend time learning the roots of these places. This started with family camping trips across the country and to many national parks and monuments, and later, in retirement, to many countries across the globe. After Ellsworth's death in 1986, Ginny moved to Shallotte, NC, to a home that she and her husband designed and built as their retirement dream home, and although it wasn't easy, she began a new life in the South, making new friends and a new life, meeting Archie Martin a few years later, who would become her second husband in 1995. Although they were only married for three years before Archie's death, Ginny was embraced by his family, and Archie's children, Jerry Martin and Jeanne Grasperge, have been attentive and loving to her these past twenty years. Due to her medical condition, which was later diagnosed as Alzheimer 's disease, she moved from NC to AZ in 2008. We were fortunate that even with the progression of this disease, she retained memory of her daughters, and the ability to communicate her love and her smile, until the close of her life. She is survived by her three daughters; Sharyn L. Drapala, of Killingworth, CT, Leslie A. Hawkins, of West Richland, WA and Amy H. Kirk, of Phoenix, AZ, her sister, Pauline Prokop of Jacksonville, IL, four grandchildren; Erika D. Gummels, Kristen D.Tyrseck, Evan R. Kirk, and Jeffery A. Kirk, and four great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews and other extended family. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer's Association or Shriners Hospitals for Children. Relatives and friends may call on Monday, December 28th from 4 - 6 PM at the B. C. Bailey Funeral Home, 273 S. Elm St, Wallingford. A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, December 29th at 10 AM at the CT State Veterans' Cemetery, 317 Bow Lane, Middletown. To leave a message of remembrance or for directions please visit www.BCBailey.com.