Obituary of Virginia M. Spitzer

Virginia Jinny Gertrude Moak Spitzer, 86, of Cortland and formerly of New Hartford, passed away after a brief illness at the Cortland Care Center on November 2, 2011. Born on February 5, 1925 in Los Angeles, Cal., the daughter of Dorothy and Don Moak, Jinny was a 1944 graduate of New Hartford High School . She attended Syracuse University , where she studied fine arts. As a girl, she was among the first students to enroll as a student in Uticas Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute, an institution in which she remained active throughout her life. In later years, she worked in the Institutes Gift Shop. She married William H. Spitzer in 1950. Jinny was active in many community organizations in the Utica area, serving as secretary of the Overseas Friendship Center and board member for Planned Parenthood. She was also active in organizations including the Junior League, the Community Chest, the Utica Council of Churches, the PTA, the Cerebral Palsy Association, the Unitarian-Universalist Church, many leukemia and cancer drives, and community theater, including the Players Theater. In 1949, she performed in a childrens play in New York City, after numerous performances in the Utica area, before the Annual Meeting of the American Experimental Theatrical Association, a performance reported in the New York Times on August 31, 1949. It was the first amateur group ever invited to perform before the organizations national meeting. Along with her husband Bill, she was deeply involved in local politics. Both worked actively on the campaigns of Utica reformist Mayor Dick Assaro in the 1960s, and numerous other national, state, and local political campaigns. Jinny organized and pioneered the use of targeted telephone techniques during the Assaro campaigns to gauge the political climate during an election and to mobilize voters on election day. In the 1970s, she ran for New Hartford town tax collector and New Hartford town clerk. For several years, she operated a local consulting firm, SRS Enterprises, along with partners Dorothy Dottie Redmond and Wilma Sinnott. In the 1980s, she served as secretary for the New Hartford Town Board, and was an election inspector for many years. After her husbands retirement as Regional Director of the New York State Lottery in 1983, she resumed interest in golf after having learned the game as a teenager, and continued her life-long love of the visual and performing arts, old movies, and interest in politics. She was also a lifelong devotee of the card game bridge, which she continued to play until her passing. Known for her dignity, grace, intelligence, charm, and positive outlook, Jinny possessed a knack for drawing out the best in other people. Ms. Spitzer was predeceased by her husband of 46 years, William, and sister Dorothy Dottie Hawkins. She is survived by her children, Gary of Liverpool, Robert (Teresa) of Cortland, and Gail of Cortland, cousins Barbara (Steve) Lomnes and Jack (Carol) Casey, nieces and nephews Casey Hawkins McKinnon, Carol (Todd) Perlmutter Nelson, Leslie Spitzer, Robin Spitzer, Gerald (Jeanne) Spitzer, and grandchildren Karen (Chris) Swim, Steven (Lea) Spitzer, Jason Popa, Mellissa (Aaron) Mitchell, Shannon (Scott) Fuller, Skye Wilson, and brother-in-law David (Lenny) and Delores Spitzer of Carmichael, Cal. A memorial service will be held at Childs Chapel at Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 11AM. Memorial contributions can be made to the Cortland Care Center , payable to: Resident Activities Dept., 193 Clinton Ave., Cortland, NY 13045