A native of Savannah, “Ginnie” was the sixth child born to John Joy Cornell, respected President of Savannah Bank & Trust Co., and Lillian Lucile FitzSimons of Charleston, S.C. Her mother died when she was only 20 months old, and Mr. Cornell was re-married several years later to Mrs. Ruby Peterson. Ginnie excelled in school, and graduated from Savannah High School and Armstrong Junior College, where she was Armstrong Queen her last year.

At the end of high school, she started dating James H. Aldrich (Jim), a loving relationship which would span over 72 years. Traveling to Annapolis, MD with Jim’s mother, Mrs. Julia Tracy Hunter Aldrich, Ginnie would have brief visits with Jim during his three years at the US Naval Academy. Following graduation, a decision to “wait for marriage until after the War” was cast aside when Jim invited Ginnie, her parents, and his mother to Miami for the weekend so they could get married on August 21, 1943. Jim departed immediately for the Pacific, serving in several destroyers, and Ginnie worked in Savannah, briefly seeing Jim in early 1945 when his ship came to San Francisco for repairs sustained during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Following WW II, Ginnie was the consummate and devoted Navy wife, moving often, maintaining the house and often single-handedly raising their three children while Jim was at sea. Following his thirty year Naval career, Jim went to work for American Cruise Lines, a small ship cruise company which offered cruises along inland waters from Maine to Florida, often stopping in Savannah, depending on the season. Ginnie accompanied Jim on these cruises, and they were now inseparable. She was always seen helping passengers, decorating the ship for Christmas, getting passengers to the right places for sight-seeing and generally ensuring all were hosted well. It was once heard from Ginnie and Jim that, “Those were the best years of our lives!”

Ginnie is preceded in death by her husband Jim, who passed away on December 30, 2011.When Ginnie’s last two sisters, Mrs. George E. Oliver of Savannah and Mrs. Lucile C. Rentz-Lott of Waycross, passed away in 2009 and 2013, she became the last surviving family member of her generation. Ginnie passed away April 22^nd at the Goodwin House, Alexandria, VA after a month’s illness, surrounded by her three children. She is survived by son James H. Aldrich, Jr. (Loretta), son Robert C. Aldrich (Martha), daughter Ginger South (Terry), eight grandchildren, and thirteen great grandchildren. On April 27^th, the Sacrament of Holy Communion was observed in Thanksgiving for the Life of Virginia C. Aldrich in the Goodwin House Alexandria Memorial Chapel, followed by a reception hosted by the family. A funeral is planned for July 15, 2015 at 11 AM at Bonaventure Cemetery during a scheduled Aldrich family reunion this summer, when over 40 family members from around the country will be in attendance.

Fox & Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel