Honoring
Virginia “Ginger” Stewart

Virginia “Ginger” Harris Stewart passed quietly on January 18, 2026 at the age of 84 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She leaves behind husband Brian Stewart, sister Robbie Milford, children Bruce Wilson and Marta Sykes, step-children Brian Stewart Jr., Brad Stewart, Kate Griffith, and Susannah Stewart-Schulz, much-loved grandchildren and grand nieces and nephews, and many friends all over the country.

Ginger, as she liked to be called, was born in Duncan, Oklahoma, where she grew up with her five siblings and her parents, R.T. and Mildred Hudson. She spent many years in California with her first husband Jerry Wilson and her two children. In the late 1980s she moved to Hawaii with her second husband Bill Harris, where they built a house on the big island and lived together many years before he passed. Several years after she lost Bill, she reconnected with a college sweetheart, Brian Stewart, and eventually married him in beautiful Big Sur, California. She and Brian shared homes and many happy years in Hawaii and Colorado. In the last year of her life, as her health declined due to Parkinson’s disease and dementia, she moved to Virginia to be cared for by her son Bruce and his wife, Sonia.

Her education and work life were varied. She studied child psychology in her first years at college in Oklahoma but withdrew before she completed her degree to marry and raise her two children. Later she returned to college and earned a Bachelor of Science degree at University of California in Davis. She went on to become a laboratory technician at the UCD Veterinary Hospital, one of the biggest and highest rated animal hospitals in the world. She had several other interesting jobs as well, including school bus driver in Davis and real estate broker in Hawaii.

Ginger deeply treasured and fully embraced the beautiful culture of Hawaii, where she lived for over 35 years. She learned how to speak a little Hawaiian, play the ukulele, and—her favorite activity of all—dance the hula. Her talent in hula led her to many competitions where she and her fellow dancers won numerous awards. Later in life, she enjoyed the very different lifestyle of the beautiful Colorado mountains.

Ginger enjoyed traveling the world. She loved to bring small items from her home in Hawaii and share them with people in far off lands to show her appreciation and make friends. She often volunteered for Red Cross disaster relief, traveling to remote areas of the world and helping those communities in times of dire need. She sang with the Kona Choral Society and the Davis Chorale for many years and performed in beautiful cathedrals and concert halls in several countries including England, China, and Russia.

Ginger took her role as the matriarch in her extended family earnestly and gratefully, keeping in close contact and treasuring time spent with each member. She had varied interests and loved learning new skills, like building and playing a washtub bass or making beautiful leis for the many people who visited her in Hawaii. She was an excellent driver, had a great sense of humor, never stopped talking, and was kind to most everyone she met.

In her final days, as her illness increasingly isolated her from the people and the life she cherished, Ginger met her challenges with uncommon grace and faith. Throughout her life, she participated in many Christian denominations, the most recent being Episcopalian at St. Jude’s in Ocean View, Hawaii and St. David’s in Woodland Park, Colorado. She contributed generously to and participated actively in her spiritual communities, including singing in various church choirs, serving on church boards, and starting and directing handbell choirs in Hawaii. This was an accomplishment she was especially proud of, as it gave many people—who never believed they could be “real” musicians—the opportunity to create beautiful music for a small and isolated community. She was truly a blessing to all who knew her.