LACONIA----Virginia 'Ginny' M. Knowlton, 93, passed away on January 31, 2021, at her home at the Taylor Community after a recent decline in health.
Ginny was born in Worcester, MA, on May13,1927, to Kenneth W. and Lora J. Billings (French).
The family later moved to Belmont, NH, where Ginny grew up on a farm attending local schools.
She graduated from Laconia High School with the Class of 1945. Ginny excelled at sports and spent summers as a lifeguard at Opechee Park. She won numerous medals for various events at school swim meets. She also enjoyed waterskiing, fishing and dancing to the music of the Big Bands at Irwin's Gardens.
After high school Ginny enrolled in the New Hampshire State Hospital School of Nursing graduating in 1948. She worked as a nurse there and later became the head nurse at the hospital. Ginny later moved to Michigan where she became the Public Health Nurse for the City of Detroit. She continued her education at Wayne State University School of Nursing. Ginny then moved back to NH to become the Public Health Nurse for Belknap County where she remained throughout her professional career.
Ginny met and married Harold E. Knowlton in 1961. Ginny and Harold were avid travelers taking summer trips to Wells, ME, cross country trekking to the Grand Tetons and frequenting Florida and Hawaii in later years. They played golf in both NH and FL where they would vacation and winter. Ginny was very proud of a particular stay in Florida where she made not one, but two holes in one, within the same week. Ginny and Harold also enjoyed playing cards with both their Laconia and Florida friends. She was an accomplished artist (oil medium) having studied with the late Loran Percy of Gilford, NH. Her paintings were beautiful and cherished by friends and family alike. Ginny had a zest for life, unbridled enthusiasm, a keen wit and loved to tell stories of being a "tomboy" in her younger days.
Ginny was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Col. Harold E. Knowlton, and her cherished dogs, Feathers and Bridget.
She leaves a son, Kenneth Knowlton of Belmont, NH, her husband's step-son, Kenneth Cain and his wife of Barrington, NH, and their sons, her sister-in-law, Darnell Knowlton Clark and many dear friends including Dr. Nellie Getchel and Mrs. Joan Morin.
Services will be scheduled at a later time in the spring.
Gifts can be made in Ginny's memory to the NH Humane Society, PO Box 572, Laconia, NH, 03247.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services and 603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH, 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.