Virginia Kay (Ginny) Donney 66yrs 1/1/59- 3/17/25 of Carbondale IL.
Ginny was born on January 1st, 1959, in Rochester Minn. to Laura Mae (Strub) and Clifford Frank Donney. She is survived by her Partner of 30yrs William Place of Tamaroa IL., four brothers Charles (Sandy) Donney, Capt, SC, USN (Ret) of Jacksonville, Fl, Joseph Donney (Maria Carreras) of New York, NY, Jerome (Sharon) Donney of Rochester, MN, Steven (Carrie) Donney of Harmony, MN, and two sisters, Susan Meyers (Daniel Sheady) of Faribault, MN, Linda Donney of Minneapolis, MN. 11 nieces and nephews Chuckie, Chris, Tony, Jeremy, DeEtte, Heather, Jared, Derek, Carrie, Nick, Laurie, Sarah, Laura and Olivia and 15 great nieces and nephews.
Ginny was preceded in Death by her Parents Laura and Clifford Donney, and sister Mary Beth (Donney) Johnson.
Ginny graduated from Mayo High School in 1977 and attended: St Cloud State University, St Cloud MN for Psychology and received her Bachelor of Elective Studies and graduated Cum Laude 8 /1982 and then Southern Illinois University, Carbondale IL for Behavioral Analysis and Therapy and graduated Master of Science 8 /1986.
She worked for many years for Southern Illinois Regional Social Services in the Youth Services Program. Her subsequent position was with Shawnee Health and Development Corporation first as Director of the Adolescent Health Center and later as the Behavioral Health Unit Director. She was highly respected by her peers.
Ginny loved books, movies and music and was great at providing her detailed opinions and recommendations. She loved walks with her dogs, hiking, jogging and traveling with family and friends. Ginny was always up for any activity. She had many close friends and was an exceptional friend to all. Her friends rallied around her to the very end as she had always done during their time of need.
Ginny was a person who quietly did great things. She devoted both her personal and professional life to serving others and was extremely involved in supporting and volunteering to a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. Her biggest accomplishment was in 1995 when she wrote a grant to launch a new Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern IL, a cornerstone program that provided mentoring experiences to more than 60 children ages 6-18 in Southern IL. Ginny started being a Big sister in 1999 to Nicole age 7 and again in 2010 to Asia age 11 and continued their close relationships to this day. In 2015 she was named the “Big Sister of The Year” for the state of Illinois.
Family requests that memorial gifts be designated to any of the following:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America @ https://secured.bbbs.org/page/145038/donate/1
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library @ https://donate.imaginationlibrary.com/
Perry County Human Society @ https://www.perrycountyhumanesocietyil.com/donate
We will be having a Celebration of Life for Ginny on April 5th. If interested in attending, please contact Jerry@Donney.com For more information.
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