Reverend Dr. Virginia A. Peacock
Reverend Dr. Virginia “Ginny” A. Peacock, 79, of Stonington, ME, died on February 22, 2021, at the Rose
Monahan Hospice in Worcester, MA, after a multi-year struggle with lung cancer. Ginny was born in
Chicago, IL, to Daurie Vance and Maryella (Cowles) Peacock. She grew up in Oak Park. She earned her
undergraduate degree at University of Michigan, where she met and married John H. Martin. They had
two children; Elizabeth and Deborah.
Following a divorce in 1975, Ginny earned her Master of Divinity (1977) from Episcopal Divinity School in
Cambridge, MA. She then engaged in doctoral studies at the Toronto School of Theology. She earned her
PhD from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto in 1987. With her abiding love of church and
service Ginny was ordained during the early wave of female Episcopal Priests, by her home Diocesan
Bishop, Colman McGehee Jr., of Michigan. In her lifetime, Ginny served in parishes and university
communities in Toronto, ON; Ann Arbor, MI; the diocese of Northern Michigan, and Deer Isle, ME.
Ginny was predeceased by her father, mother, and older brother, Vance. She is survived by her loving
daughters Elizabeth of Cambridge, ON, and Deborah of Worcester, MA; her sons-in-law Edward and
Dan; her grandchildren Christopher, Timothy, William, and Rebecca Martin-Chan, Naomi and Isaac
Shertzer; and countless friends, especially in Toronto, the U.P. of Michigan, and her Deer Isle
community.
Ginny was deeply reflective, and loved to read philosophy and religious ethics. She deeply believed in
love and community and sought in her ministries to integrate deep philosophical and ethical questions
around existence into practical, meaningful approaches to living life. She was a wonderful listener and
could disarm with her thoughtful open-mindedness. She was fierce about her friendships and social
justice, and called herself and others to witness with honesty, kindness, and integrity.
Her body has been cremated and there will be a private service for family and close friends.
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I’m so sorry for your loss. Please know that our thoughts and love are with you during this time – I wish we could hug you in person.
Deborah and Family! We extend our deepest condolences to You on the loss you feel of your Beloved Mother. May her memory be felt in your Heart and her name be written in the Book of Life. May G-d Bless her Soul through Eternity! The Gaffin Family
Our deepest condolences for your loss, Beth and Deb. All of you have been such a big part of our lives. Who knew back in the early 1970s in Muskegon, Michigan, that we would all remain such good friends, regardless of distance? Love and virtual hugs to the two of you and your families.
I am sorry to hear of the loss of your mother. Both you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers especially during this difficult time
Nicole and Holly
Elizabeth and Debbie, my sincere condolences to you and the families on the los of your Mother. Big hugs from across the ocean.
Your legacy as Ginny’s family echoes our legacy as friends, parishioners, and fellow citizens: a disciplined seeking of clarity of speech and thought; of courage to challenge the comfortable status quo; a driving curiosity to sort through and sort out in service of authenticity and greater usefulness; and a hunger for social justice that
adequately reflected her understanding of faith practice. In life and in memory she is a provocateur for doing better, becoming more whole, asking better questions, trying a new approach, and hitting the mark!
I will remember that and her chuckle.
Our family sends our deepest condolences, a kind soul and heart .she will be sadly missed, prayers.
Sending much love and prayers to you and your family at this difficult time. We are all keeping you in our thoughts and wish we could sit shiva with you in person.
Your friends and colleagues at Clark University, School of Geography
Her memory will live forever
So very sorry to hear this news – Love and peace to all in the Martin/Shertzer household and to all of Ginny’s family and friends.
My condolences to you Beth and Deb on the loss of your mother and to your children on the loss of their beloved grandmother. I think that’s a wonderful obituary. Ginny was indeed a spiritual force. I didn’t know her from Adam’s house cat when I stopped in Deer Isle to hear her preach some years ago. Upon hearing her take on how to bring Christ into one’s life, I thought ‘If I could get the hang of that, it would make my life better’ so I kept returning and eventually joined the Episcopal Church where I found not only Ginny and her message but a lot of good friends as well. Rest in peace, dear, faithful soul and shepherd.
Ginny’s intellect far better developed than mine but we could meet in our shared love of Leonard Cohen … « there is a crack, a crack , in everything: that’s where the light gets in. « May she grow from strength to strength.
I’m so very sorry, Deb. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Virginia was an eminently thoughtful and wise mentor and a wonderful friend. Gwen and I loved and her and will cherish her memory forever. She taught us with her immense charity. We miss her terribly, but somehow know she hasn’t really left us, and will stay with us forever.
Jim
Your Mother was a woman of valor. She embodied qualities we all need more of. What a legacy she left you. I wish ai had known her.
Cherish all the good memories. My thoughts and prayers are with you at this sad time.
Jim Martindale
Ginny and the welcoming church family are the reason Kathy and I joined St. John’s, Negaunee when we moved back to the UP. She was the one who encouraged me to take classes at NMU and not too long after, to answer the call from the Parish, go thru the training and become ordained. I was privileged to call her friend and mentor. We all missed her when she left and continue to do so now. We have been blessed to know her. Our prayers go to her beloved family..
We have lost a rooted, soulful friend. Ginny would often talk to me about her hopes for her yurt, an earthbound dream, held together with repurposed materials and repurposed fasteners, all stronger by way of experience, roughed up edges, slightly off-plumb, blunted points, not exactly square or anything else, not symmetrical.
Her dream included all of us, not exactly as we think of ourselves, true to the line, integrated, fresh from the store, but with scars from former projects, weatherwrinkled, castoff and picked up and not this once only.
Ginny saw through us, saw fresh recruits, partners, with just the skills needed to build a yurt with a hundred doors and then windows for each one, a fire that left no one out in the cold, filled with singing silence, dancing feet, and conversing sparkling eyes.
My eyes are fixed ahead like you told me on the way to a clergy meeting. Driving takes concentration. Still, now, maybe I will hear you. You still now, while I am busy. Smile now, seeing the yurt, glimpsing you calling us in for a meal and a chat.
I am the organist for St. John’s church Negaunee michgan and the former organist of Grace church Ishpeming. Ginny was a fierce friend and boss. While we didn’t always agree, but we always would go the extra distance for one another. Including going to her house after church and shoveling her out after a snowstorm. And fixing her snowblower. Or pulling her out of a ditch, and even sometimes driving her home when her car was in the shop. And when i was ill and in the hospital, (playing for 3 different denominations) getting anointed by her AND the other 2 usually the same day.
Elizabeth and Deborah,
I was blessed with the opportunity to work on your Mother’s MG, which allowed me to get to know her. She and I connected as it sounds many did. I have fond memories of working on the car and discussions about life and her work in faith, I felt so comfortable asking questions. She welcomed my family in and became part of ours.
I will miss her visiting the shop and going to her house to fix little things on the MG.
My Love and Thoughts are with you both and your families as you experience this loss. Taz
Condolences to you on the loss of your mother.
She sounds like a one of a
kind fascinating and accomplished woman.
I hope her last days here in Worcester and near you comforted
you both.
I cherish my memories of Ginny and her work at UM and Canterbury House. Her care of souls was great and I am one she gave great care to. May she Rest In Peace and rise in glory. May we all be comforted in our grief.
Virginia was my CCD teacher at St. Lucy’s School then on Lake Street just past Austin Blvd in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. St. Lucy’s long ago merged with St. Catherine’s on the Oak Park side of Austin. She went to school with my mom, Kathleen Sloan (Heintz). My mom passed away 26 years ago. My condolences to her family.
I did not know Ginny had passed. She was my friend and mentor when I was a student many years ago at the University of Toronto. Ginny was kind and erudite, trustworthy, wise and patient, a credit to her Church. May she rest in peace.