In January, she flew again with Howard to Hawaii, then to Tahiti; Pago Pago; Sydney, Australia; and Auckland, New Zealand. Virginia's flurry of postcards to Nell are filled with dots and dashes of excitement, with a kind of wonder that she was actually visiting such exotic places. The following postcard from Tahiti dated January 29 is a typical representation:

This is a fantastic trip,only one wish,about eighty-nine pounds of luggage less,weather has been very warm, humid. Arriving in Sydney tomorrow,pray it is cooler there,must have hair redone, no choice,But have enjoyed every minute,a new approach to life from here on in,can relax, I find. Ran into Dawn Galvin at lunch today. Truly a small world.

Love and gratitude always, Virginia.

Then in April and May 1968, she and Howard traveled to Europe a second time, touring London, Paris, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. In August, they went trout fishing along the Snake River in Idaho, followed by yet a third trip to Europe in October, and in December, a vacation in Mazatlan, Mexico. A scheduled trip to Asia was canceled in favor of another Hawaiian vacation in January. On April 12, 1969, Virginia and Howard, along with family members and close friends, attended Carol Critchfield's second marriage, this time to Chuck Neel, in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Following the wedding, Virginia and Howard went to Las Vegas, and in late April and May, they went on a fourth extensive tour of Europe.

In a cryptic postcard sent to Nell Hubata on May 30, 1969, from the French Riviera, Virginia wrote:

Dearest Chum,

Seems a very long time since I left Illinois and everyone of importance there. Trip going okay. I am glad I have made this journey"tension less"getting some rest. Today we are in Monacoa beautiful spot as is the entire French Riviera. On to Portofino Sunday, then Florence, then Zurich to embark homeward next Saturday. Anxious to see you again and as soon as possible. K has called three times,talked one hour once.

Keep well, all my love and gratitude, Virginia.

From 1964 until the end of 1969, Nell Hubata kept a meticulously organized scrapbook she called Gin's Tonic. This overflowing book of memorabilia contained all Virginia's letters, cards, postcards, theater tickets, news clippings, invitations to charity events, programs, and projects Virginia was involved in. Intended as a gift, a "tonic," from Nell to Virginia, it is a voluminous five year record of a friendship. The enigmatic postcard from Monaco referencing "K" and the desire to return home doesn't appear until the end of the dozens of letters, notes, greeting cards, and postcards. Notably, there is no reference to Howard, either as an interesting companion or otherwise. Monaco is beautiful, so is the French Riviera, according to Virginia, but Howard is invisible, and "everyone of importance" is in Illinois. What could this have meant?

Virginia and Kenneth M. Piper

Paul Critchfield, Virginia's nephew, tells a story about Kenneth Piper, the vice president of human relations at Motorola's Franklin Park headquarters in Chicago. When Paul moved to Phoenix in 1968 to work in the human relations department at Motorola's semiconductor plant on 52nd Street and McDowell, he found out that his Aunt Gin had asked Ken (when he traveled to Phoenix to check on Motorola sites) to please "keep an eye" on her nephew. Ken invited Paul out for a golf game and a bite to eat in the clubhouse afterward and confessed to Paul he was deeply, deeply fond of Virginia. He added that he was aware of his competition but was nonetheless determined to marry Virginia Galvin.

Virginia had confessed the following in a note to Nell Hubata on April 11, 1969, one day before Carol's wedding and one month before her fourth planned trip to Europe with Howard:

Yes, Ken and I have hit it off in great style. He is fun-a good dancer, quick on the uptake, very pleasant, courteous, attentive, interesting. He returned to Chicago last Sunday, Easter. By that time we'd had four dates (twice at Mountain Shadows). He has called me every night since, and on Tuesday he sent me three dozen of the loveliest long-stemmed red roses I've ever seen. Today I received two white orchids,a corsage for tomorrow. He is returning, as I said, this weekend, and Mex [Wayne King's wife] is graciously including him in her party. So, where are we going? Couldn't say, but it is fun,and enormously rewarding to a gal's ego.

On the day Virginia left Zurich to return to America (Howard had to stay longer on business), someone appeared unexpectedly at the airport in Zurich, offering to accompany her home. Determined to trump his "competition," Ken Piper utterly surprised Virginia as he stood there, one likes to think, with a bouquet of roses.

Two months later, on July 29, the Hubatas received a handwritten note from Ken Piper, thanking them for the birthday gifts they had given him at Virginia's recent party. On August 28, one month later, a short note mailed to Nell from Virginia thanked her friend for listening to her confessions during a "topsy-turvy time." Not two weeks later, on September 9, a small notice appeared in the Chicago Tribune:

Mrs. Paul V. Galvin of Evanston and Kenneth M. Piper of Wilmette, who have known each other for twenty years, have announced they plan to be married early in January. Mr. Piper is vice president of Motorola, Inc., which Mrs. Galvin's late husband founded in 1928. Her stepson, Robert W. Galvin, is chairman and chief executive officer of the company.

Somehow, Howard Morph, after a lavish three-year courtship marked by first-class world travel, including four trips to Europe, lost out in a manner and by means not fully revealed in any saved correspondence from Virginia to Nell or to anyone else. He lost to Ken Piper, a man Virginia had known for years through their mutual connection to Motorola, a man who had been, in fact, a friend of Paul Galvin's. In four months, from the time he surprised her in the Zurich airport to the date of their wedding, Ken succeeded in doing what he told Paul Critchfield he would one day do,triumph over his competition and marry Virginia.

Virginia and Ken on their wedding day

Ken and Virginia's marriage, the second for both, took place on December 30, 1969, at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley, the first wedding ever held at the Casa. Father Michael Weishaar officiated; Virginia's sister, Carol, was matron of honor; and Virginia's nephew, Paul, now a twenty-three-year-old Motorola employee, was best man. After ten years of loneliness, conscientious work, and a determinedly active social life, Virginia G. Piper's life had taken a joyous new turn.

Before Virginia's second wedding, however, two other significant ceremonies were held. On October 30, 1969, a specially designed plaque for the Paul V. Galvin Memorial Hall was unveiled during the dedication of the Learning Resource Center at Mundelein College. The $300,000 grant for the two-story 350-seat hall had been presented to Mundelein by Virginia on behalf of the Paul V. Galvin Charitable Trust. "I particularly appreciate the privilege of designating this area as a memorial to Paul," Virginia wrote to Sister Ann Ida Gannon, president of Mundelein College. "His interest in young people was a deep and constant one, tinged with confidence, understanding, and faith. To be able to implement through the charitable trust in Paul's name the numerous projects which come to our attention is doubly gratifying, for it seems to me that he himself continues to endorse and participate in programs always near and dear to his heart."

Then, on November 9, Virginia participated in the dedication of the Paul V. Galvin Memorial Chapel at Loyola University's Medical Center in Maywood, a chapel to be used by patients, doctors, staff, students, and friends of Loyola University Hospital. The ecumenical worship service included a recitation of Paul's beloved Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-10, beautifully reflected in the chapel's new stained-glass windows.

Even after she had married a second time, Virginia would say that she continued at times to feel Paul's love and guiding presence, that indescribable sense of his ongoing "partnership" in her life. It is tempting to wonder whether among the many reasons Virginia married Ken Piper was his friendship and close work with Paul Galvin. As largehearted and generous a man as Ken was, he would understand, perhaps better than anyone, how Virginia could both love him and still keep Paul in a place of high devotion. Was loving Ken Piper yet one more way of remaining loyally connected to Paul, the man who had begun her life, changed her life, and cultivated all the ideal conditions in which she could come into full bloom? And how would the two marriages differ,the first to an older, wealthy man who was clearly a mentor and an equal partner, the second to a man closer in age to Virginia but who had less money than she did (she sometimes worried over how that might affect his ego), a highly successful man but without the public visibility and prestige of a Paul Galvin?

Virginia clearly loved Paul and cherished his memory, but she loved Ken Piper just as much. With Ken, the social occasions, the friends, and the parties were less formal, looser, and Virginia could relax, feel the weight of the public's gaze leave her for a time. Paul had been protective of his younger wife, helping her to attain the confidence and assurance she needed in her new life. Now that she had acquired that confidence and gained public stature on her own, Ken would protect her, in part by surrounding her with all the lightheartedness, romance, and gaiety she needed.

Even more importantly, Ken Piper championed Virginia's philanthropic vision. As she made her new home in Arizona, discovering fresh opportunities for charitable giving, Ken encouraged her to reach for the stars, to bring her leadership and resources to the Valley. He adored Virginia and took pride in her abilities. Virginia would always claim that she and Ken enjoyed a blissful "storybook" marriage. They were utterly compatible, and because of Ken's strength of character and devotion to Virginia, she was importantly supported in this newest era of her philanthropy.

Virginia signing Paul V. Galvin's memoir,
The Founder's Touch

True to her indomitable and life-affirming spirit, Virginia had emerged from loss and grief to a life filled with a new love, supportive friendships, and a new career. She had become a philanthropic force that would save and enrich lives, particularly in the Valley of the Sun, for countless generations. Forging a path unique to women of her generation by embracing all she had learned from family, faith, and marriage to Paul Galvin, she boldly embarked on an uncharted philanthropic journey that would elicit the highest use of her considerable talents. Intent on service to her community, always advancing values, ethics, and innovations to improve quality of life, Virginia G. Piper became what later generations of philanthropists,both male and female,would aspire to be: an effective, dedicated, inspiring, and visionary leader.