Beginning Her Philanthropic Journey: 1959-1969

Paul and Virginia Galvin had 14 years together-wonderful family times and holidays with Paul's son Bob, wife Mary and their four children; Virginia's parents, sister Carol and her son, Paul Critchfield. The Galvins made annual winter visits to Phoenix, beginning in 1949, when Motorola established a research and development facility in the Valley of the Sun. As Mrs. Paul Galvin, Virginia had a very professional public side as well as a personal and private side. The next phase of Virginia's life began after Paul Galvin died of leukemia after an extended illness in November 1959 at age 64.

Just as hard work had been a source of emotional recovery and resilience in the Galvin family, Virginia, following her late husband's model, drew upon a natural discipline and native conscientiousness, coping with loneliness through work. Meeting regularly with Paul's bankers, stockbrokers, and financial advisors ... at the Harris Trust Bank, she undertook the task of learning everything she could about the world of finance, investments, tax laws, and trust and estate accounts. Combining resolve with an innate dedication to detail, Virginia would become, under the tutelage of her trusted advisors, as astute and shrewd as any man of her era in the labyrinthine world of high finance, investment, and philanthropy. Virginia made it her business to be unintimidated, and the most honest way to do that was to learn exactly how the principles of business and finance operated.

She would not be known as the woman who had married well, and blithely signed checks for various causes; Virginia intently examined each project, charted its progress, gauged its leadership trajectory, and attended related functions. Her gifts, large and small, public and private, from the earliest years were accompanied by high standards, firm expectations, and an eye toward longevity and integrity of mission.

Doubtless, Virginia forged a new path of power and philanthropy unknown to most women of her era. - The origins of her new journey were rooted in her own character, in her love for Paul Galvin and for humanity, and always in the abiding need to live "a dedicated life." Dedication for Virginia meant a tireless work ethic, visionary leadership, and a grounded understanding of the financial and social impact of her gifts.

One of Virginia's first charitable endeavors, among the hundreds that would compose her career, was to underwrite and see to fruition the Paul V. Galvin Coronary Care Center (CCC) at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston. A subsidiary of the Paul V. Galvin Heart Center, the CCC would provide a complete program of cardiac care and put Saint Francis Hospital at the forefront of cardiac medicine in the state of Illinois, eventually earning it the name "The Heart Hospital." Saint Francis was the facility where Paul had died, so it seemed appropriate that Virginia's first major grant as chief administrator of the Paul V. Galvin Charitable Trust would be awarded to the hospital. ...

It is often the smallest moments that mark great turning points in a life, and the moment Virginia decided to commit funds to the heart center after initially consulting Philip Sheridan on another project-the moment she made her first independent decision about which cause to support-may have been the one that ushered in a new awareness of her power, her extraordinary ability to affect lives on a grand scale, and the understanding that ultimately the choices she made would be hers alone.

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