Virginia Jane Smith's Obituary
Virginia Jane Smith (“Ginnie”) passed away peacefully on her 98th birthday November 9, 2023 at her home at Christwood in Covington, LA. Born in Upper Montclair, NJ, she married Robert Fulton Smith (“Fulton”) of Short Hills, NJ (deceased 1990) and in 1953 he moved her south as he had entered the oil business. The two leave behind three children, nine grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren, all of whom they adored.
Ginnie was hyper-social and lived for entertaining. Of so many kind words from friends and staff at Christwood during her last days, the concierge stopped us in the entryway to say with tears in his eyes and hands over his heart, “everyone loves your mom for her rare combination of grit, gusto, and class”.
Ginnie was raised sailing at her family’s Kimball Island situated off the Maine coast from Southwest Harbor. She bonded with Fulton over his mutual love for sailing, having spent summers racing sailboats at Martha’s Vineyard. Upon settling down in New Orleans, the two spent many years sailing and racing on Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico, including several races to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. In 1971, a guest at one of the Smiths’ many cocktail parties, Charlie Cary, brought up his plan to create a sailboat charter company in the British Virgin Islands. He would be traveling the following month to Tortola to scope out a location for the company, which would be called “The Moorings”. Ginnie immediately said, “I’m in!” She and her daughter Cecette flew down with Charlie and his wife, a location was chosen at Road Harbour, and officially The Moorings Yacht Charter Company was begun. Ginnie convinced her son Tony to help sail the first ten boats, which would comprise “the fleet” from Clearwater, FL to Tortola in lieu of his college freshman year. She booked charterers in her kitchen on a corkboard for several years as the company grew. She then expanded her business to include Mediterranean and South Pacific venues through the founding of Ginnie Smith Yacht Charters. Her claim to fame was gathering up the first all-female crew and coming in fifth overall at Antigua Race Week.
Ginnie continued to have a blast throughout her twelve years at Christwood, establishing and performing in skits for the residents (now taken up by her dear friend Bob Carr who was at her bedside in the last days).
She wrote poems for birthdays and holidays, painting pretty covers with flowers and delivering them to her many friends and staff at Christwood, her grandkids, and great-grandkids, all of whom cherished these creative outpourings of kindness and love. A week before she died, she said she would love to go out of the world the same date she came in - on her birthday. We all prayed for this wish to be granted, and it was. The family plans a private burial at her son Stephen’s home in Homer, Alaska.
E. J. Fielding has been entrusted with the arrangements. Please sign the online guestbook at www.ejfieldingfh.com.
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