Obituary of Virginia Trenholme Thompson

VIRGINIA TRENHOLME (SCHULTZ) THOMPSON, died on August 4th, in her 89th year, with a brilliant smile and tremendous grace, surrounded by family, after a brief battle with cancer. Virginia was a proud and devoted mother to Henry (Jennifer), Amanda and Albert (Leslie) Schultz and Trent (Jamie) Thompson, a loving grandmother to James (Emma), Julia, Emma, Gabriel and Clara Schultz and Gillian McEachern, great-grandmother to Peter Schultz, and step-grandmother to Emilio and René Puerta. The daughter of Robert L. and Eleanor Barbour, she was predeceased by her husbands Albert B. (Peter) Schultz (1923-69) and Douglas R. Thompson (1922-2000) both of Port Hope.Virginia is also survived by her siblings Robert L. Barbour Jr. and Cynthia Whitten and by many other relations and friends.

Ginny Barbour was born and brought up in the New York City area, coming to Port Hope as a very young bride in 1957. Following the death of her husband Peter, she moved to Napanee where she married Douglas in 1972. Three years later, the family moved to Alberta, eventually settling in a house built under Virginia’s watchful eye on an acreage near Okotoks. In 1983, Douglas and Virginia returned to Ontario, moving first to Camden East and then to Bath. In 2020, Virginia moved back home to Port Hope (as so many do) after an absence of a mere 51 years.

Virginia was a woman of many interests and accomplishments. She was an avid equestrian and all-around athlete in her youth, as well as a writer of prize-winning poetry. Upon marrying, she became a queen of the domestic arts — a gifted and self-taught cook, gardener, landscape architect and interior decorator, with impeccable taste and a well-honed sense of economy. She parlayed these skills into founding two successful gift stores in Okotoks (The Dormouse) and in Camden East (The Squire’s House), revealing an entrepreneurial streak that she did not know she had. 

Wherever she lived, Virginia was involved in a wide range of community activities. These included participation in several church choirs, musical theatre productions and charitable events. Among the many organizations for which she was an active volunteer over the course of her long life were the Girl Guides of Canada, the Cobourg Opera and Drama Guild, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Bath Municipal Heritage Committee, and Hospice Lennox & Addington. 

A woman of great warmth and ever-youthful charm, Virginia was a generous host, and the spark in any gathering. She had a delicious sense of humour and was at her most content combining the things she most loved: family, friends, food, song, and laughter.

A celebration of Virginia’s life will be held at St John’s Anglican Church, 33 Pine Street North, Port Hope on Tuesday, September 15th at 11:00am. Virginia’s family would like to thank Dr Francesco Mulé and the staff of the Northumberland Hills Hospital and the Northumberland Hospice Care Centre (Ed’s House) for their attentive care during her illness. 

In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be made to the restoration of Port Hope's 1871 Music Hall (a project that gave her great pride and joy) through HopeTowns Community Ventures, either by mail at 158 Bruton St, Port Hope, ON, L1A 1V5, or online at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/hopetowns-community-ventures/.