Virginia Colburn

Virginia Lee Colburn, 75, of Oak Ridge, died on April 24, 2015.
She is survived by son Christopher Haidri (Vicki) of Harriman, TN; sisters Janet Colburn of Ellenville, NY and Nancy Colburn of San Diego, CA; and treasured nephews and cousins.She was predeceased by husband S.Z. "Hank" Haidri, mother Virginia Colburn Bahrs Smith, and father Cleaveland Colburn.
Virginia graduated with a B.A. from Douglass College and received her Master's in Library Science from Rutgers University. She loved books and enjoyed being a librarian for over 40 years, including 19 years as Director of the Elmwood Park (NJ) Public Library and more than 15 years as Director of Youth Services and Community Programs at the Warsaw (IN) Community Public Library. Virginia had many interests, especially music, and over the years sang in several choirs and vocal groups. With her college choir she had one performance in New York City at Carnegie Hall which was particularly memorable for her ("I had a terrible cold that night and must have sounded horrible, but thankfully I blended in with all the other voices -- and it was a wonderful experience.")
Virginia was a member of First United Methodist Church, the Joyful Reconcilers, and various Bible study and book circles. When her son was growing up, she was a devoted Little League mom, Cub Scout den mother, and got involved in numerous activities in every possible way to make sure her son and all of his friends had great experiences. Every place she lived, she opened her home to neighborhood children as a place that they could visit on the way home after school or on summer days, where they could do arts and crafts projects, play games, tell stories, learn to play piano, and keep their minds active with fun and educational activities.
She had a variety of avocations over the years: serving as a lay speaker at her church; writing a lighthearted newspaper column about books and reading; researching and publishing a recipe book featuring ingredients grown in a Biblical garden; collecting postcards and bells from all over the world; and creating notebooks full of colorful pictures for several nursing homes to use in their therapy rooms to help residents reminisce and recollect.
A visitation will be held from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at First United Methodist Church, 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, followed by a memorial service at 11:00 AM at the same location.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations to the American Diabetes Association.