Virginia V. Rolett
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Virginia "Ginny" Vladimir Rolett passed away on April 5, 2022 at Kendal at Hanover after a long illness at the age of 87. At her bedside were her loving husband and members of her immediate family. Born on 20 January 1935 in Bronxville, NY to Irwin A. Vladimir and Geraldine Schulman Vladimir, she was the second of their two children.
Ginny grew up in Scarsdale, NY and attended The Masters School followed by Smith College (BA, 1956). She married her husband Ellis while a senior at Smith. The high point of her Smith education was a junior year abroad at the University of Geneva, where she studied economics and developed fluency in French. After graduating from Smith College, she and Ellis moved to New York City where their first son Roderic was born. A year later the family relocated to Ruislip, England, a suburb of London, for her husband's two years of service in the United States Air Force. Their second son, Barry, was born there.
After England the family moved several times before settling in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. While devoting herself to raising a family and having a third son, Daniel, Ginny found time to join the PTA, serving as president during the stormy time of school integration in the 1960s.
With her sons in school, she pursued an MS degree in Library Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Trained as a librarian, Ginny was a pioneer in developing the profession of informational specialist, a role she played in three different academic institutions. The first was the UNC Institute of Government where she designed an early pre-computer model of an information system for organizing research materials bearing on criminal justice.
In 1974 the family moved to Los Angeles when her husband accepted a new position. Ginny was hired by the Office of Academic Administration at the University of Southern California, honing her skills as an information specialist. After three years in Los Angeles, having become fond of living in college towns, the family again moved, this time to Hanover, NH.
Hired by Dartmouth Medical School, Ginny's career as an information specialist blossomed. She created the Project Cork Resource Center, an information service on alcoholism and substance abuse for health care providers, which was recognized as an innovative model of academic information services. She developed the first online catalogue of the alcohol and drug addictions literature, co-founded SALIS (Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists) and served as a consultant to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol Information. She also served as a consultant to national and academic libraries in St. Petersburg and Petrozavodsk, Russia. Among many professional presentations and publications, she authored How to Start and Run an Alcohol and Other Drug Information Centre for the World Health Organization.
Ginny enjoyed volunteering and played leadership roles in numerous organizations. These included Opera North, where she was chair of the board, League of Women Voters, Balch Hill Management Committee of the Hanover Conservancy, Bridges for Peace, and the Vermont-Karelia Sister State Project. She once remarked that she had never thought of herself as a leader until her professional and volunteer work propelled her into positions of leadership.
As health issues became challenging, Ginny retired from her professional work and eventually moved with her husband to Kendal at Hanover. At Kendal, she compiled residents' biographies, edited the weekly newsletter and chaired several committees. Her organizational and people skills enabled her to contribute importantly to these and other activities.
Above all, Ginny was especially proud of her family and the homes she and Ellis built in Chapel Hill and Hanover. She was the family mainstay, guiding her children toward their careers, skilled in the kitchen, and solver of problems both great and small. She loved camping trips with family across the United States and traveled extensively with them abroad. She cherished her family and will be remembered by them as well as by friends and colleagues for her positive attitude, strength in the face of adversity, readiness to help others, and generosity of spirit.
Ginny was pre-deceased by her parents and brother Andy. She leaves behind her devoted husband of 66 years, her loving sons Roderic (Ann), Barry (Mayumi) and Daniel (Tania), six grandchildren and two great grandsons.
The family wishes to express its gratitude to the nurses, doctors and caregivers at Kendal and Bayada Hospice, with a special thanks to Wendy, for their compassion, kindness and skill during her final days.
A service in celebration of Ginny's life is planned for a later date. Memorial contributions can be made to Opera North (operanorth.org), Upper Valley Jewish Community (uvjc.org), Kendal Dickenson Home Health Assistance Fund (kah.kendal.org), or Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation (myotonic.org).
To view an online memorial and/or send a message of condolence to the family, please visit, www.rand-wilson.com.