A Lady Takes Her Leave

By: Sandee Remis

Last October, cancer claimed the life of one of EHS’s charter members - Virginia Marciniak. For the first and past eight issues of the Edgewater Scrapbook, Virginia acted as associate editor and proofreader of this publication. This issue is dedicated to her.

I first got to know Virginia in 1985 as the founder and chairman of ArtsNorth, a cultural organization that presented an annual season of events, including music, song, dance and theater in Uptown, Edgewater and Rogers Park. She was an inspiration. Over the years, concert seasons and newsletter deadlines, we grew to respect each other. I shall miss her most as a friend.

A Lady

A lady left
   Our midst today;
God called her home
   to our dismay.

A lady left,
   The people cried;
But in their hearts
   She’ll ‘er abide.

Wife and mother,
   Worker and friend;
The song she sang
   Will have no end.

Gracious and kind,
   Honest and true;
An artist, a poet,
   Music her venue.

An artisan of English, she had a way of weaving words. Simple, not convoluted. She never made an ill remark. The softer she spoke, the harder one listened. She had something to say. She was a master of measuring type sizes and visual aspects. And if we didn’t know the answer, we asked Ed. Never failed.

A singer of songs, her soprano voice could, and did, command respect, and love, and joy. In church choir lofts and at family home pianos. She filled her life with love. And flowers. And music.

Unbeknownst to me, she lived a long time contending with cancer. If I had any inkling of knowledge, it was not through her consent. I, as many others, were left to guess. Her vivaciousness and extraordinary spirit lulled one into thinking… into wanting more than feeling she would outlive me. She gave and seldom took. She was brave and caring and compassionate.

A leader.
A founder.
A teacher.
A coach.
An equal without equal. A lady.
A shoulder to cry on.
An ear to bend.
A mender of fences.
A lover of rubrum lilies.

She was born April 29, 1930.
She was married April 25, 1953.
She died October 21, 1990.
Virginia Volini Marciniak.
Mother of Catherine, Christina,
   Francesca and Claudia.
Grandmother of Meagan,
   Catherine, Stephen and John.
Wife and companion of Edward -
   Two spirits, two minds, one love.

“Through song,” said the Rebbe,
“A person climbs to the highest palace.
From that palace he can influence
   The universe and its prisons…
Song is Jacob’s ladder
   Forgotten on earth by the angels,
Sing and you shall defeat death;
   Sing and you shall disarm the foe.”

      - Elie Weisel

Virginia, Salve Regina,
You saw, you sang, you conquered.
Long live the lady.
Be with us always…