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CHAPTER THREE It is often the smallest moments that mark great turning points in a life, and the moment Virginia decided to commit funds to the heart center after initially consulting Philip Sheridan on another project-the moment she made her first independent decision about which cause to support-may have been the one that ushered in a new awareness of her power, her extraordinary ability to affect lives on a grand scale, and the understanding that ultimately the choices she made would be hers alone. Taking sole administrative leadership of the Paul V. Galvin Charitable Trust, Virginia carried out numerous projects reflecting Paul's charitable interests, many of them in medicine and education. Among these were the following: the Catholic Chapel at the Stritch Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois; the Paul V. Galvin Memorial Chapel at the Loyola University Medical Center; the Geriatric Department at Saint Joseph Hospital in Chicago; the Paul V. Galvin Life Science Center at Notre Dame University; the Paul V. Galvin Coronary Care Center at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston; the Speech Therapy Department at Chicago's Rehabilitation Institute; the Paul V. Galvin Memorial Chapel at Northwestern University; the Fine Arts and Communications Center at St. Ambrose College, Davenport, Iowa; the Paul V. Galvin Resource Learning Center at Mundelein College, Chicago; and extensive scholarship programs at DePaul University; Mundelein College; Holy Cross Seminary; the College of Saint Teresa, Winona, Minnesota; Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Indiana; Moreau Seminary, Indiana; and the National College of Education, Evanston, Illinois. The early paradox Virginia witnessed between her grandfather, a medical doctor, and her grandmother, a Christian Science practitioner who declared disease a mere error in thought-and the equanimity they shared-was mirrored in her tremendous support of medical institutions and medical research while quietly adhering to her grandmother's spiritual tenets. She was able, as well, to reconcile Christian Science with Catholicism or to allow them to at least coexist peaceably within her belief system. In 1967, Virginia also funded the expansion and renovation of the Paul V. Galvin Chapel at the Franciscan Renewal Center, also called "the Casa," founded by the Franciscan Friars as a spiritual retreat center. The FRC, or Casa de Paz y Bien (House of Peace and Every Good), remains a Spanish-style desert oasis in Paradise Valley, Arizona, set between two Phoenix landmarks, Camelback and Mummy Mountains. In other charitable capacities, Virginia accepted many invitations to serve in leadership roles among several organizations: she served as a member of the first advisory board of Marillac House in Chicago and as a member of the One Hundred Club of Chicago, an organization furnishing aid to the widows of policemen and firemen; she also served on the boards of DePaul University, Northwestern University Settlement, the North Shore unit of the American Cancer Society, the Cradle Society, and Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston. Such lists, while extensive and impressive, cannot begin to convey either the vast human scope of her philanthropy or the many and constant demands upon her time and energy. To offset some of the relentless desk work, phone calls, letters, meetings, and site visits, all of which she assumed sole responsibility for, Virginia found respite in the practice of her Catholic faith and in her family and friends. Two new friendships, both initiated in 1964, would prove especially enjoyable to Virginia. At some point that year, Virginia was introduced through Les Muter, a businessman she went out with, to Dr. Joe Hubata, his wife Nell, and their nineteen-year-old daughter, Kerry (then a ballet dancer, now director of the Evanston School of Ballet). According to Kerry, Nell and Virginia "hit it off instantly." They became inseparable, like sisters. Virginia would come to our house to visit, and we didn't come from a lot of money-we lived on the south side of Chicago near 104th and Rose-but what my mother offered Virginia was honesty. When you're the king or the president, no one's going to tell you that you don't have any clothes on! Mother also had an impeccable sense of style, and she would go shopping with Virginia. The two of them devised a whole set of hand signals to use in the dressing room. The salesperson who had latched onto Virginia would bring in a whole bunch of stuff, the most expensive stuff possible, trying to make a sale, and sometimes they didn't look that proper, and so Mother would give Virginia these little hand signals. They had it down pat. Kerry also fondly emphasizes Virginia's great sense of fun: She was clumsy, always dropping food and spilling things, and one of Mom's favorite things to do was to go to Neiman Marcus and have popovers and coffee. So we were all there one time, when Virginia ordered a fruit salad and managed to spill something. All she had to do was look over at my mother, and without a word, they started laughing. Another time, Virginia was in one of her elegant formal gowns, all dressed to go somewhere, when she managed to spill something on her gown. You know what she said? "Oh, I don't deserve nice clothes!" This beautiful, beautiful woman, who always put others at ease-who along with my mother used to talk with her hands, knocking over champagne glasses-could always poke fun at herself. And you know how teenagers will try on the same dress? My mother and Virginia would do that all the time, trying on clothes, visiting at one another's houses, taking photographs: this is how I remember them. |
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