Obituary of Virginia Thaxter

Thaxter, Virginia “Ginny”, 91, of St. Petersburg, FL passed away September 13, 2021. Born in Attica, NY to the late Earl and Lena McKee. Ginny and her family resided in Gasport, NY. Ginny married Clayton Charles Thaxter in 1948 and resided in Middleport, NY until they moved to St. Petersburg, FL in 1980.  

She is survived by her son, Mitchel E. Thaxter; granddaughter, Amber Hall; Coty Yantis, Lynda Neuberger; great-grandchildren, Andrew, Reese and Pepper Hall; sister, Audrey Warner; nieces, Michelle Shipley and Tiffany Warner; sisters-in-law, Barbara McKee of Canton, GA, Marilyn McKee of Tucson, AZ, Sandra (Richard) Tripp of Lakeview, NY and Margaret Oshaugnesy of Buffalo, NY. 

Ginny was born and raised in upstate NewYork and was the eldest girl of the family, teaching her responsibility from a young age that would carry on many years to come. She met the love of her life Claytie and soon became a family of their own. Raising a home of boys would come with many challenges but just as many accolades. She raised champion athletes… with mischievous demeanors at times. There was always plenty of things for them to get in to and plenty of things for them to try to keep from her, but she always had her ways of finding out as many mom’s do. Even with all of this, dinner was always served at 7pm sharp and extra portions were never short and also never seemed to be missed by friends that would stop in, “just in time” for dinner.

Ginny would always make sure there was a meal for the neighborhood kids that “pal’d around” with her boys, she had a safe warm home for kids and people alike to stop by and have a cup of coffee or get a garment or two hemmed as she was an avid seamstress and baker for many years. She worked at the Dry Cleaners and as a caterer, did countless hours at the firehall as a volunteer to support her community and husband. Even with all that she still enjoyed dressing up with her pearls and lipstick and black heels for a night on the town with her handsome beau.

When they moved to Florida after the boys were grown, she would find her newest purpose… raising a granddaughter by her youngest son. There would be many walks around the neighborhood and stolen sips of Pepsi on the porch, baking more cookies than the eye could see and trips to McDonald’s that would later become legendary and historic. It then became much more, the bond grew further and she taught her to be a little lady, proper table manners and how to shop thrifty, how to garden and sew, how to cook and bake from scratch, because it might not have been the quickest but it tasted the best and gave the best rewards.

She taught patience and perseverance, she taught strength and compassion, she taught faith and courage. She taught the seemingly simple things from her generation that are lost today, to talk about problems and pull through the hard times. She carried on tradition of welcoming children in her home and making sure there were extra portions of home cooked meals that never went unnoticed by those just dropping by around that time…that was still 7pm.

Her joy of people and entertaining never faded as she loved holidays and lively bunches, she loved parties and festivities, loved to dress up for Halloween and special occasions…she poured into people with all she had.

Given the chance to meet and spend time with Ginny, it didn’t take long for her to encourage and make you think that anything was possible…. Even if it was the craziest of ideas. There was never really a time I can remember her saying something wasn’t possible, just that you’d have to work hard at it or practice and she was always more than willing to help in some way…. Even if she had no idea how to help, she would be there for more moral support than you could imagine. Family and friends meant everything to her and she kept in close contact with all of them.

She had the courage of a lion and loved adventure…as long as it didn’t involve getting IN the water, she grew up on a farm and hated chickens but loved cows and horses, she loved sailing and spending time at their cottage in New York, loved flying, loved going in the hot air balloon to celebrate her and Clayton’s Anniversary! She wanted to go skydiving one day – nerves of steel.

If you were blessed to have had Ginny in your life in some way I’m sure you can think back on several times she helped you out and/or made you smile or listened to you when you needed to talk; she was the best for all of that and she never asked for anything in return because she wasn’t out for herself.

Ginny’s life was full of many things but her beauty, passion and selflessness that she instilled in all of us that she touched will continue to live on as we remember her each and every day!