A multifaceted impression of Virginia can be drawn from the recollections of people who knew Virginia personally, both in the years immediately after Ken Piper's death and in her final, physically challenging years. Because it is easy to lose sight of the real woman, the flesh-and-blood human being, iconicized almost to a fault by her own philanthropy, by pages of impressive financial numbers and donor statistics, it is important to hear everyday accounts from people who knew and loved her. These voices help us recapture ordinary details, personality traits, and qualities of Virginia, to view her life in equal, realistic proportion to her works.

I remember one day when Virginia, having just met with her attorney, Jim Bruner, now one of our lifetime trustees, telephoned me. She said, "I had a meeting with Jim today, and do you have any idea what the size of this estate is?" "No," I answered. "It's half a B!" she whispered. That was so typical of Virginia, to not even want to say that out loud, to just whisper it.

-Laura Grafman, friend, lifetime trustee, The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust

The last time I saw Virginia, I took some papers to be signed over to her house. She was sitting in her chair, on oxygen, and her sister, Carol, was there. After she signed the papers, she looked up at me and said, "You know, I've tried to do my best, in managing all of this. I hope Paul will be pleased." She died ten days later.

-Jim Bruner, Virginia's attorney, friend, and lifetime trustee, The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust