Virginia L. Ainslie

Virginia L. Ainslie, 93, of 5102 Savage Farm Drive, died on February 1, 2018 in Ithaca, NY.

Born in Manhattan, Kansas, daughter of James W. and Mary Nixon Linn, she graduated from Kansas State University in 1946, majoring in child development. Later she taught there in the laboratory nursery school while doing graduate work. She came to Ithaca with her husband, Harry R. Ainslie, in 1950.

A teacher of young children, she taught at Forest Home Play School where she supervised Cornell students majoring in child development. In addition, she helped organize and was the first director of two early childhood centers – St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Nursery School and the IACC Day Care Center. She also taught a course, “Experience with Children” in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University. In 1966-67, she helped set up a nursery school, developed a laboratory manual, and taught a child development course at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos. The theme of Virginia’s life has been parenting. She has been a wonderful mother to her children, is beloved by her grandchildren, and for many years mothered foreign exchange students, college students not able to go home for the holidays, her husband’s student advisees, and welcomed into her home countless other children and adults.

For three years, she was Lay Leader at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, and for eight years a member of the Ladies Union Benevolent Society. She had been a member of the Ithaca Child Community Center and was a longtime volunteer at Tompkins County Hospital. She also served on the board of the daycare center at Kendal of Ithaca and was an active volunteer at Kendal.

She is predeceased by her husband, Harry, and two brothers, J. Worth Linn, of Smyrna, GA and Robert D. Linn, of Liberal, KS. Surviving are two sons, Gregory (Marilyn), of Huntersville, NC, and Timothy (Carolyn), of Princeton, NJ; three daughters, Nina (Ken) Warren, of Manhattan, KS, Mary (Tom) Tracy, of Portland, ME, and Julie (Eileen Poth-Ainslie) Ainslie, of Akron, OH; nine grandchildren, and ten great-grandchild.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at Kendal at Ithaca, 2230 Triphammer Road, Ithaca. Prayers of Committal will be private for family in East Lawn Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Virginia’s memory to Ithaca Community Childcare Center (IC3) at Kendal, 579 Warren Road, Ithaca NY 14850 or Global Roots Play School, 402 North Aurora Street, Ithaca, NY 14850.