1941
Virginia
2008
Virginia H. Tornell (Hutchins)
September 29, 1941 — December 22, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- Virginia H. "Ginny" Tornell, 67, of Sioux City passed away Monday, Dec. 22, 2008, at a Sioux City hospital following a lengthy illness.
Memorial services will be 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Michael Catholic Church in Sioux City, with the Rev. Gary B. Snyder officiating. The body has been cremated. Visitation with the family will be one hour prior to the service Saturday at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Larkin Northside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Virginia "Ginny" Tornell was born Sept. 29, 1941, in New Brunswick, N.J., to George B. Hutchins and Eva Reiser Hutchins. She graduated from high school in Mount St. Mary's Academy in New Jersey, and Concord College in West Virginia.
She married the late Charles Tornell in 1965 and they were blessed with three children. She taught at various schools on the East Coast before the family moved to Sioux City in 1975. She started teaching the fourth grade at Bryant Elementary in 1977, then moved to Leeds Elementary. She finished her career at Herbert Hoover Middle School, where she retired from in 1999. After her retirement, she was co-owner of the Holly Shoppe Florist with her daughter, Heather.
During her 22 years of teaching in Iowa, she was recognized as Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the Iowa Social Studies Teachers Association and was the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year in 1998. She was a member of the Iowa State Education Association, the National Education Association and the Siouxland Uniserve Unit where she served as the organization's president for eight years. She was an active member of the Woodbury County Democrats and was elected as a delegate to the 1984 San Francisco convention.
She was an active member of the Catholic church and was a parishioner of St. Michael Catholic Church. She enjoyed gardening, traveling, bird watching and spending time with family and friends.
She is survived by her three children, Jason Tornell and his wife, Jo of Buffalo, Minn., Dr. Preston Tornell and his wife, Kara of Sioux City and Heather Tornell of Sioux City; two sisters, Barbara Nelson of Dover, N.H., and Susan Peterson of Plymouth, Minn.; seven grandchildren, Libby, Abbie, Charlize, Loren, Charles, Christopher and Braeden Tornell; and nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, George and Eva Hutchins.
Honorary pallbearers will be Jason Tornell, Preston Tornell, Mohamed El Zeini, Eddie Brown, John, Jack and Josh Newman, Charles and Christopher Tornell.
The Tornell family would like to thank the nursing staff at Mercy Medical Center's Oncology Unit for their caring and support of our mother.
Memorial services will be 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Michael Catholic Church in Sioux City, with the Rev. Gary B. Snyder officiating. The body has been cremated. Visitation with the family will be one hour prior to the service Saturday at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Larkin Northside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Virginia "Ginny" Tornell was born Sept. 29, 1941, in New Brunswick, N.J., to George B. Hutchins and Eva Reiser Hutchins. She graduated from high school in Mount St. Mary's Academy in New Jersey, and Concord College in West Virginia.
She married the late Charles Tornell in 1965 and they were blessed with three children. She taught at various schools on the East Coast before the family moved to Sioux City in 1975. She started teaching the fourth grade at Bryant Elementary in 1977, then moved to Leeds Elementary. She finished her career at Herbert Hoover Middle School, where she retired from in 1999. After her retirement, she was co-owner of the Holly Shoppe Florist with her daughter, Heather.
During her 22 years of teaching in Iowa, she was recognized as Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the Iowa Social Studies Teachers Association and was the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year in 1998. She was a member of the Iowa State Education Association, the National Education Association and the Siouxland Uniserve Unit where she served as the organization's president for eight years. She was an active member of the Woodbury County Democrats and was elected as a delegate to the 1984 San Francisco convention.
She was an active member of the Catholic church and was a parishioner of St. Michael Catholic Church. She enjoyed gardening, traveling, bird watching and spending time with family and friends.
She is survived by her three children, Jason Tornell and his wife, Jo of Buffalo, Minn., Dr. Preston Tornell and his wife, Kara of Sioux City and Heather Tornell of Sioux City; two sisters, Barbara Nelson of Dover, N.H., and Susan Peterson of Plymouth, Minn.; seven grandchildren, Libby, Abbie, Charlize, Loren, Charles, Christopher and Braeden Tornell; and nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, George and Eva Hutchins.
Honorary pallbearers will be Jason Tornell, Preston Tornell, Mohamed El Zeini, Eddie Brown, John, Jack and Josh Newman, Charles and Christopher Tornell.
The Tornell family would like to thank the nursing staff at Mercy Medical Center's Oncology Unit for their caring and support of our mother.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Virginia H. Tornell (Hutchins), please visit our flower store.
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