Virginia Kilgore

Virginia Cayou Kilgore was the third child of Mayme and Tom Cayou, born in 1916, in Bismarck, North Dakota. She was proud of her heritage as a member of pioneer families of both North Dakota and Minnesota. Her grandfather, Patrick McHugh from Donegal, was the first police chief of Bismarck, North Dakota. Her grandmother on her father's side was Susan O'Brien born in Dublin, oldest child of the St. Paul, MN O'Brien family. As a child growing up in Bismarck, she remembered and told her family stories of seeing the native teepees in the summer encampments on the outskirts of the city. She told stories of her grandfather patrolling the streets of the city armed only with a blackthorn cane from his native Ireland. He told all who asked that guns caused more problems than ever they solved and that a good blackthorn stick was good enough to keep the peace. Her childhood friends became her lifelong companions. Only one, Gracie who grew up across Mandan Street, remains of that happy crew. Ginny and Gracie last shared a meal and a conversation in May of 2015 – marveling over the book that had just been awarded the Pulitzer Prize about the Mandan Indians. They pored over Elizabeth Fenn's beautiful book and traced the curves of the Missouri with their fingers, telling their own stories of their friendship and their past. Imagine, they said, another North Dakota – Colorado connection! Virginia – Ginny to friends and relatives – grew up dreaming of the world. Her mother suggested one day when she was slow to attend to her ironing tasks, ""You can stand at the board and iron and visit the streets of the cities you have studied in geography and history."" And so she did and her dreams became her life. Jim Kilgore came to Bismarck as a young lawyer from Grand Forks, recognized a kindred pilgrim soul and the adventure they began as their life as an Air Force couple took them around the United States and to Europe. They raised their four children in South Carolina, Virginia, Alaska before it was a state, California and Madrid, Spain. Bismarck and Grand Forks were the heart-homes of this Kilgore family – and all the cousins got to know one another during the return visits. Associations were important to this generation and Virginia was proud of her degree in social work from the University of Minnesota where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She was proud of her work with the Officers' Wives Clubs and the Grey Ladies in her many assignments. She loved being part of every Catholic parish she came to, the last two being the base chapel at Lowry AFB where two of her daughters were married and later the Church of the Risen Christ in Denver where she and Jim were active members of the Silverado group. Lowry AFB was the last assignment in the Air Force for this lively couple and once they established their home in Denver they began to travel the world – with friends, with family and with their many friends met over a life time of service. All the grandchildren knew that Colorado was their heart-home, just as their parents knew North Dakota as theirs. A long life lived in service, in faith, loved fiercely and with great joy is the legacy Virginia leaves to her family. We treasure the memories we have shared. We can only imagine the celebrations and reunions taking place on the other side of this life but we can feel them as surely as we can feel the beating of our own hearts. We have been taught to treasure every moment, every breath, every encounter – and Virginia, our mother and grandmother and great grandmother, has taught us to remember to tell the stories – and to laugh. And so we shall.