Sister Virgina Crilly, BVM

Sister Virginia “Ginny” (Therese Mary) Crilly, BVM, 82, died Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at Mount Carmel Bluffs in Dubuque, Iowa.

Visitation, the Sharing of Memories and Mass of Christian Burial were on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Burial was in the Mount Carmel cemetery.

Sister Virginia was born Feb. 28, 1940, in Elmhurst, Ill., to Joseph and Therese (Nash) Crilly. She entered the BVM congregation Aug. 2, 1958, from Immaculate Conception Parish, Elmhurst, Ill. She professed first vows on Feb. 2, 1961, and final vows on July 16, 1966.

Sister Virginia ministered first as pastoral associate and then as pastorate administrator for the Penta Parishes in Jackson County, Iowa, namely Holy Rosary and St. Theresa, LaMotte; St. John, Andrew; St. Lawrence, Otter Creek; and Assumption, Sylvia Switch.  She served the BVM congregation as a pastoral care minister at Mount Carmel in Dubuque, Iowa. She was an elementary teacher at St. Francis Xavier in Phoenix and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tempe, Ariz., and principal at St. Clare in Santa Clara, Calif.

“Ginny was quiet and unassuming, yet always ready for an adventure. She enjoyed taking in every experience completely. She was gentle, respectful, compassionate, and not only appreciated the gifts of others but depended upon them. She readily volunteered to do the jobs that no one else wanted to do – jobs that were very necessary but received little recognition . . .

Her deep trust in God’s love freed Ginny to live her life as a positive person who could find humor in everything, even trying situations, and often responded with her very distinctive laugh . . . and maybe a snort!” (Eulogy, April 26, 2022).

She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Richard Crilly, Philip (Virginia) Crilly, and Father James Crilly, CSV; and a sister Margaret Mary “Dolly” (Robert) Shields.  She is survived by a sister-in-law Dolores “Dory” Crilly, La Grange, Ill.; nieces; nephews; and the Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she shared life for 63 years.

Memorials may be given to Sisters of Charity, BVM Support Fund, 1100 Carmel Drive, Dubuque, IA 52003 or online at https://www.bvmsisters.org/support_donate.cfm.