Virginia Holley Scott

AIKEN, SC - Virginia Holley Scott (“Ginny”), 93, of Aiken SC, and formerly of Spartanburg SC, died peacefully in her sleep on the night of February 16, 2014 among people who loved her. Born on March 9, 1920, in the village of Wakefield RI, Ginny was the daughter and only child of the late Elisha and Charlotte Bell Holley. She attended South Kingston High School, graduating in 1937, and continued at what is now the University of Rhode Island, where she was a proud member of the Delta Zeta sorority. She graduated in 1941, with BS degrees in home economics and textile science. In 1947, Ginny married the late Walton Hunt Scott, whom she had known from childhood. Together the couple had three children to whom Ginny remained devoted throughout the course of her life. In 1961, Walton and Ginny moved the family from Rhode Island to Spartanburg SC. Ginny resided in Spartanburg for the next 50 years, until moving to the Pepper Hill Nursing Center in Aiken in 2011, where she made many close friends. Everyone regarded Ginny as one of the most thoughtful, loving, and caring persons that they knew, always putting the needs, wishes and desires of family, friends or even complete strangers above her own and never missing an opportunity to volunteer her time in service to the community she loved. She was a member of the Board of Directors of Mary Black Hospital in Spartanburg for 27 years, and a charter member of the Mary Black volunteers. She also served on the boards of the Visiting Nurses Association and the American Cancer Society for many years, and aided the Red Cross in numerous disaster relief efforts. Ginny’s devotion to her church, her passionate commitment to her Christian faith and her unswerving belief in the innate goodness of her fellow man were core aspects of her life. She was one of the original members and a life-long communicant of Saint Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Spartanburg, where she will be remembered as the author of the Christopher C Churchmouse tales, written over the course of 30 years in the weekly newsletter. Also, she undertook four mission trips to Haiti, where her Episcopal Church group provided diverse medical and social services to rural Haitian communities. Ginny also had a deep and abiding love for the natural world. She was an avid amateur ornithologist with a lengthy “life list” of bird species. She was for many years a member of the Spartanburg Garden Club and was widely respected for her extensive knowledge of the local flora. She eagerly shared her knowledge with anyone interested, giving lectures on local wildflowers and backyard wildlife habitat to groups who asked her to speak. She was also an exceptionally talented self-taught artist, expressing her love of nature and man through watercolor, pastel, and pencil renderings of flowers, country scenes, and still lifes. She frequently donated her artwork to fundraisers for charitable causes. Ginny is survived by her three children: son David and his partner Kathy Linton of Aiken SC, who served as caregivers in Ginny’s last years; daughter Betsy and her husband Carl McCleskey of Cloudland GA; and son Peter and his wife Marcia Hull of Wakefield RI. She is also survived by seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. A memorial service and celebration of the life of Virginia Holley Scott will be held at St. Christopher’s Church in Spartanburg on Saturday, February 22, 2014 at 3 pm, with a receiving line at 2 pm and a reception after the service in the church hall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Ginny’s name be made to St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church. SHELLHOUSE – RIVERS FUNERAL HOME, AIKEN, SC Please visit the online guestbook at www.shellhouseriversfuneralhome.com To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Virginia Holley Scott, please visit our flower store.