Virginia Anne Cook was born November 16, 1946 to Emery and Cleo Cook.  She grew up in their farm house just north of Rutland, Iowa.  As a little girl she loved to help her father milk the cows and ride the tractor during farming operations.  She walked to their country school a half mile to the north where her mother Cleo was the teacher.  Upon eighth grade graduation she began to attend high school in Humboldt.

She then went to Iowa State University where she studied interior design and English.  Ginny also met her husband to be, Lee Halverson, on a blind date arranged by their room mates who thought they would be perfect for each other.  The room mates were right because Lee and Ginny fell in love immediately.

Upon graduation Lee was drafted into the Army.  After graduation from advanced training as a military policeman, Lee and Ginny were married.   Lee was sent to Viet Nam and Ginny waited a year for him to come home.  A number of Lee's comrades had no loved ones to send them letters, so Ginny wrote regularly to six other soldiers.  Later at reunions of his unit, six soldiers could have cared less if they saw Lee…they wanted to see Ginny.

When Lee came home, Ginny taught English and Speech in Zearing and then in State Center, Iowa.  Later, Ginny taught school in Rock Falls, Illinois where Lee worked for Farmland Industries.  Both Lee and Ginny had grown up on the farm and returned to Lee's home farm in Sioux Rapids.  The farm crisis of the eighties reduced farm income so Ginny compensated by taking over Alice's Steak House.  Under her management business boomed and employees became family.

They moved to Mississippi where Lee was education director for Associated Builders and Contractors and Ginny became receptionist for Roy Anderson Corporation.  Daughters Missy and Ginger both moved to Mississippi to join them.  Later they moved to Chicago where Lee was education director for Illinois ABC and Ginny became receptionist for Phoenix Builders.  When Ginny retired the couple moved back to Mississippi to be near their children.

Ginny's spirit left her body on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 one day short of her 76 ^th birthday.  Her family left to mourn their loss:  Lee, her husband of 53 years.  Daughter Melissa (Missy) Hungerford and her husband George as well as daughters Chloe and Emilee and son Zack.  Daughter Virginia (Ginger) Lynn and her husband Scott and sons William and Matthew.  Ginny's parents and sisters Kaye and Patricia preceded her.  Brother Bruce and sister Jayne remain to mourn the loss of their sister.

Ginny's life sends a message to all of us:  Be kind to each other.