Virginia Fife:
CLASS OF 1969
Piner High SchoolClass of 1969
Santa rosa, CA
Virginia's Story
Interview by Sherry Maddox, 2008
Ginger enjoys a rich heritage in that her mother¿s parents emigrated from Greece and her father was born and raised in the Philippines. Her father was a merchant seaman. The Greek grandparents lived in Utah and Wyoming before settling in San Francisco and it was there her parents met and married during World War II. Ginger says her home life, ¿was just like the film, ¿My Big Fat Greek Wedding.¿¿Â
Ginger was born in San Francisco, the youngest of three children, and two half-brothers. Four brothers in all. Meals in their home always consisted of Philippino entrées and Greek desserts. ¿We had rice three times a day.¿ Her childhood friends loved to eat at her house, and she loved to eat at theirs. Both were enjoying foods foreign to them at home. Ginger says, ¿They had spaghetti. We never had spaghetti.¿ But it was the Greek desserts that turned Ginger on to the first of her passions, baking, especially her outstanding baklava.
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The family¿s move from San Francisco came about when Ginger was eight years old. Her father¿s brother (who had also emigrated from the Philippines and already lived in Santa Rosa) convinced Ginger¿s mom to buy a piece of land there. She bought 10 acres off Fulton Road while her husband was at sea and she still lives there. Ginger¿s dad died about 30 years ago.Â
Ginger attended Piner elementary and high schools. A subject of interest for her was clothing design. She made all of her own clothes, as well as, sewing the outfits for mannequins in fabric stores. She also did some modeling of clothes.
Ginger lived in Reno, Nevada for much of her adult life. She would find that this large resort town would be a place that she fit in nicely. ¿It was like a larger version of her families gatherings at Greek Easter,¿ she replied. Everybody was happy and having a good time. Though she had gone to Redwood Empire College, and worked for one year as a medical secretary, upon moving to Reno as a young, single mom needing immediate work, she took the first thing available. There was a large demand for good cocktail waitresses. She would ultimately find herself enjoying working in the casinos, and would become very much in demand by the larger, more reknown casino owners. ...Expand for more
She would eventually go independent, where several of the bigger casinos would hire her for their big events, such as, the Celebraty Tennis Tournament held in Tahoe. There she met and served several famous actors, such as, Clint Eastwood, and her favorite Gene Hackman and his family.
Ginger¿s ultimate career would lie ahead of her when she would take the position as director for women and children¿s shelter at rescue missions from California to the Caribbean. This, she says, is a passion. One of the many stories she encountered there concerns the wife of a prisoner at San Quentin. Ginger had a call from a San Quentin social worker concerned about the prisoner because of his worry about his wife in Sacramento. The worker asked Ginger to find a place for the woman at her rescue center. Although there was no space available, she said to send her over. By the time the woman arrived, there was a bed for her and she moved in. As time passed, this woman (who had been a prostitute) turned her life around and is now working for rescue missions herself. Ginger says so many women come to the missions without hope, and leave happy to begin a new life.
 Another passion of Ginger¿s is ballroom dancing. In fact, she became so good at it she was an instructor of dance at the Burkhart School of Dance from 1965 to 69. Burkhart School was run by a couple who loved dancing and wanted to keep it going. It was the thing to do from the forties through the sixties for parents to send their children to the Burkharts for instruction in dance. Then ballroom dancing went out of style and Ginger missed it bitterly. It is now once again gaining favor, but Ginger feels she no longer has the physical ability for it.
As many girls used to do, Ginger married right out of high school. She raised one daughter, Deanne who lives in Windsor, California. Deanne and her husband are the parents of three girls; Angelica, 11; Paige, 5; and Zoe¿, 3, Ginger¿s pride and joy times three. But there is even more! Yet another passion is backpacking and she is intimately acquainted with the trails around Lake Tahoe. And if that isn¿t enough, she also really digs photography. Ginger is a woman of many passions.
She says; ¿I could tell you so many stories.¿  And she did!
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