Viona E. Ginnow, a petite woman full of energy, always seeking knowledge and willing to help others who spent over 30 years teaching her grade school students and evolving her own teaching techniques, died in her sleep Tuesday night of natural causes at her home on Crown Drive. She was 80.
Mrs. Ginnow was born and raised in rural Oshkosh, where she was educated at Oshkosh High School and Oshkosh State Teachers College. Her fill of numerous jobs like being a: clerk, farmer, factory worker, customer service employee and home worker motivated her to find more in life. She eventually earned her bachelor and masters degrees at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
Her teaching career began on Sept. 2, 1946 in a one room rural where the 20-year-old Ginnow managed grades one through eight. In comparison to her later years in the classroom, she had a much more down and dirty approach to her job. There was no telephone, electric lights did not illuminate the student’s readings and she had to physically pump the water and start a fire while teaching a room full students.
The three decades of teaching left her with many memories of accomplishment inside and outside of rooms filled with colorful cardboard and bright children. However, the most memorable moment for her consisted of helping change a student’s life.
In an interview that occurred in 2006, she reminisced about a troublesome boy in the fifth grade. Eventually she had to call the mother and report his actions. The mother called her back and said the boy received a violent strapping from his father. Ginnow was disturbed by this news and felt saddened that it happened because of her. The student soon left her classroom and she moved on in her career.
Years later while she sat at her desk after her day, she heard a Harley-Davidson pull up in the parking lot. The once little boy was a man who opened his heart to her. He revealed how he turned to drugs and partook in a rowdy rock band. However, a different family took him in and he turned his life around. He stopped by to tell his former teacher that he was doing better. She recalled that as one of her finer moments and stayed in contact with the man later in her life.
Her husband, Russell Ginnow, died April 20, 1982, four days before her birthday. Her life suddenly changed and she became lost in agony. She lived with her son Lawrence for two years until 1984, when she attended a rummage sale where she was informed the house was also for sale. After selling land left to her from her husband and her house to her son, she purchased the new home on Crown Drive. She lived alone, kept her husband’s name and never remarried for 22 years.
Mrs. Ginnow found comfort at her Presbyterian church where she acted as a deacon and elder in the past. She would often sit amongst former students and felt accepted into their families. She could be found planted in a pew every Sunday and helping out with many of their events.
A homebody at heart, she found great pleasure traveling the world. Over her latter years in life, she visited every state besides Alaska, Utah and Oregon. She traveled beyond the border during her visits to Austria, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England and Canada. However, the trip most personal to her was when she spent one month tracing her roots in Germany.
Over the years she joined various groups, including Winnebago County Retired Educators, Home and Community Education, Omro Study Club and the Red Hat Society.
Even towards the end of her life she returned to her love of education once again. She tutored three different children starting three years after retirement. Even though she never asked for any pay, she would find herself receiving gifts from the appreciative parents. Witnessing the progression in learning and her love of kids motivated her during the sessions she held.
She recalled one little girl she tutored during the warm summer months. Mrs. Ginnow was friends with the girl’s grandparents and the time also allowed her to tell the girl about the ancestors she never knew.
She is survived by one son, Lawrence Ginnow of Omro, one daughter, Ruth Plummer of Howards Grove and three grandchildren.
She will be buried from St. Mary’s Church. The family will receive visitors at the Smiling Six Feet Under Funeral Home on Roosevelt Avenue.
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