Virginia Pettersen

Virginia was born in Seattle, Washington to Lyle and Irma Robinson on September 14, 1921. She studied piano with her uncle, Silvio Risegari, from a young age. A music major at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, Virginia met her future husband, Howard, while directing his fraternity chorus. After graduating from Whitman in 1943, Virginia taught public school music in Washington for one year. They began their 68 years of marriage on June 9, 1944, before moving to Minneapolis. There, as Howard pursued his Masters in Physics, she took graduate courses in Art History.
Virginia and Howard moved to Albion, MI in 1947 when Howard accepted a faculty position at Albion College. During their 60 years in Albion, Virginia was a private piano teacher and an accompanist at the College. She also worked as a slide librarian for the Art Department. Their 3 daughters, Nancy-Laurel, Dina and Robin, were all born in Albion.
After Howard retired they both volunteered at the Albion Interfaith Ministries charity. Virginia was also involved with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and was President of the Albion Chapter. They spent summers at the Bay View, MI, Methodist Chautauqua where Virginia was an accompanist for the music conservatory and attended the 3 weekly classical music concerts. She had lessons with the music faculty and performed on a student concert in the summer of 2013.
Virginia and Howard moved to Oakwood Village University Woods campus, Madison, WI, in December of 2006. Virginia shared piano performances with a group of pianists at Oakwood. She also was a member of the Madison Euterpe music club where she performed a Hayden variations piece by memory in November of 2013. Virginia knew hundreds of popular songs from the 1930s and 1940s which she played for numerous groups at Oakwood. She also became a devoted weaver during her years in Madison.
Virginia is survived by her daughters, son-in-law David Antonioni and her four grandchildren, Mario, Rosie, Marcel and Laura. A celebration of Virginia's life will be held at Resurrection Chapel at the Oakwood West University Woods Campus, 6204 Mineral Point Rd., Madison, WI at 2:00 pm on Friday, December 27, 2013.