Virginia S. Siebert

A Memorial Service for Virginia S. Siebert, 91, of Palatine, will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at 2:00 PM at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 200 N. Plum Grove Road, Palatine. Refreshments will follow in Fellowship Hall at 3:00 PM. The Interment will be private at Union Cemetery, Palatine. 

Ginny (Virginia) was born September 24, 1933, to John and Clara Smith. She grew up in Chicago’s Belmont Central neighborhood where she had a happy childhood playing with cousins in the neighborhood and enjoying family fishing vacations in Wisconsin. An avid Cubs fan, she kept score cards, listened to the games on the radio and attending many games with her mom. She did well academically, skipping a grade school grade and also winning a graduation scholarship to Luther Institute (high school). 

Her high school years included many extracurricular activities including playing as a forward on the Kittens (girls’ basketball team) and piano (self-taught) for a quartet, music being one of her passions. She did much of her homework on the buses and the ‘L’ train going to and from school and worked part-time at a dime store while also taking typing jobs.

In 1950, Ginny went to Valparaiso University where she majored in chemistry and pledged the Alpha Phi Delta sorority. At “Valpo”, she met Daniel Havlir, a civil engineering major and son of a Lutheran minister from West Hatfield, Massachusetts. They married and moved to Chicago in 1952 after Dan graduated. Ginny worked at Underwriters Laboratories, and Daniel worked as an engineer for the State of Illinois.

The couple later settled in Park Ridge and started a family. Ginny was busy, happy and was a homemaker extraordinaire. She regularly hosted family and church gatherings and embraced gardening with her four children. She enthusiastically supported all of her children’s sporting events including hockey and baseball games for her three sons and traveling with her daughter around the US and Canada on many speed skating adventures. She also played golf and tennis, enjoying the social atmosphere of the sports while always being fashionably dressed! 

Ginny became a mother-in-law in 1977. Later that year, she was widowed when her husband died unexpectedly. She subsequently returned to fulltime work when a neighbor offered her a customer service position at C-Line Office Products. She also worked part-time at H&R Block. 

She became Grandma when her first grandchild was born in 1980. Around this time, Ginny was introduced to Koinonia North, an active Lutheran singles group, and participated in its social projects, Christian growth opportunities and social activities that included biking in the Chicagoland area and abroad. It was through Koinonia that Ginny and Fred met. 

Ginny married Fred in 1988. They moved to Palatine’s Lake Virginia community in 1991 and became members of Immanuel Lutheran Church. She became secretary to the president at C-Line, retiring in 1996 as did Fred. 

Retirement allowed her to focus even more on the things she valued most – her family and her church. She took great joy in witnessing her family grow, celebrating the marriage of her first grandchild in 2003 and welcoming the arrival of her first great-grandchild in 2007. She continued active in her church life; it included planting and caring for Immanuel’s flowers, sorted men’s clothes at Immanuel’s Good Sam clothing ministry and participating in Immanuel’s senior group 50s Plus, serving many years as social chair. 

Ginny is survived by her husband Fred, her four children, Dan and his wife Jean, John, Diane and her husband Art and Bob and his wife Tricia, eleven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. She also shared a special bond with dear friends Erma and Walter.

She and Fred loved each other and enjoyed time together. She also loved and took pride in her children. As the family grew with grandchildren and ‘Greats”, they were included under her umbrella of love. She embodied the famous ‘love is…’ passage of I Corinthians 13:4-7, living a life defined by patience, kindness, thoughtfulness and selflessness. 

Ginny also enjoyed simple pleasures such as flowers, ice cream and chocolate. She enjoyed looking nice, planning and hosting gatherings, and helping. She loved music (played accordion, piano and organ), biking, paddle-boating, competing in board games, visiting with family and friends, and adventures. Her smile, warmth and friendliness made her a joy to be with. To those who knew her, Ginny was truly a gift from God. 

Memorials in memory of Ginny Siebert can be made to Immanuel's 50s Plus senior group or Good Samaritan Ministries.