Obituary: Baird, Virginia Summerson
Age 93
Jimmy, as she has always been known, was born in Spokane, October 19, 1921.
Her parents, Charley and “Jerry” Summerson had three girls; Carol, Virginia, and Jean.
Jimmy as a youngster was always active-the classic tomboy.
She played girls basketball, catcher on the baseball team, and the family has pictures of Jimmy holding up strings of native trout.
She could climb to the tallest branch of the big birch tree in the front yard, especially after a bit of mischievous activity.
Jimmy was salutatorian of the 1939 Lewis & Clark High School class in Spokane.
Enrolled at the University of Washington and graduated in mathematics, cum laude.
It was at this time she met her future husband, Frank Baird.
Frank and Jimmy were married in 1943.
After graduating from the UW, Jimmy supported Frank through the UW Dental School while having two boys; David (1944) and Jerry (1947).
Julie came along in 1952.
In 1957 the family moved from Seattle to Wenatchee to take advantage of the beauty and recreation of north central Washington.
The family skied at Steven’s Pass.
Jimmy and the family water skied and fished at Lake Chelan and Banks Lake; hunted dove, chukar and pheasant-of course she had her own 20-guage pump shotgun.
Jimmy was always in on the activity and then, magically there was dinner at the end of the day.
After the kids left the house, Jimmy and good friend Lily Holms, skied at Mission ridge.
For over a decade, those two girls had the #1 and #2 Mission Ridge passes.
Jimmy was also in the Mountain Dears hiking group-this group of girls hiked every Tuesday, rain, shine, wind, or snow, the Mountain Dears hiked near and far trails of our Cascade Mountains.
Frank and Jimmy also stepped up their boatin’ and fishin’ time, mostly on the west coast of Vancouver Island where they had purchased some remote property.
And when Frank part-retired in 1981 they decided to scratch out a homestead from the rain forest at their Bamfield property.
It was actually an entire family project.
They built a small cabin first, and then it was six more years of building the bigger house.
This was no small feat as the house was off-grid and all materials had to come by water first, then handed loaded on a small trailer and pulled by a Kubota tractor for the final last mile.
Jimmy helped with the clearing of land and the building of the house.
She also turned a bit of the west coast rain forest into a beautiful garden of rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and hardy fuchsias.
And once again at the end of a long day of work, there was always a meal on the table.
For 21 years Frank and Jimmy enjoyed the hardy living of their Bamfield home.
Frank kept chopping wood and always had at least a couple happy woodsheds.
Jimmy was either in her garden, walking the beach picking up seashells and beach rocks, or out fishin’ with Frank for salmon and halibut.
Jimmy reeled in the family’s two biggest salmon-a 47 and 49 pounder.
But in 2001, Frank was 85 and Jimmy was 80, age and medical conditions caught up with them.
Wenatchee again became their fulltime home.
Frank passed away in 2009 at the age of 93.
With the help of family, Jimmy stayed at the Wenatchee home for five more years tending her Wenatchee garden while slowly developing the sure signs of dementia.
Jimmy finally needed fulltime help and moved to Mt.
Meadows memory care unit in October of 2014.
At Mt Meadows slipped into the routine of “senior” living graciously.
She remained active in the social activities and was always ready with kind and comforting comments to staff and residents.
But dementia is very persistent, memory keeps fading.
Gone were the memories of Bamfield, of Wenatchee, of Frank and her children, of fishing and gardens, and even herself.
About a week before her death, Jimmy slipped into debilitating pain.
Jimmy was sedated and was kept calm and comfortable for five days.
Early the morning of July 8, 2015, a pair of eagles swooped down and gifted Virginia her final angel wings.
Preceding Virginia in death; sister Caroline (1991); husband Frank (2009).
Surviving family are sister Jean Grant of San Antonio, TX; sister-in-law Annie Baird Sherman of Fairbanks, AK; children David, Jerry, Julie; grandkids Scott, Carmen, Corey, Randy, and Molly; and ten great-grandchildren, At the family’s request, No Funeral Services are scheduled.
At a later date, there will be a Celebration of Life at the family home in Wenatchee and at their home in Bamfield.