On Sunday, October 9th, the MPC community and friends far and wide will gather for a celebration of the life of Virginia Hadsell, who died September 17th. She was an integral part of MPC, known for leading years of annual study tours, and a prominent leader in our Global Concerns committee. Please join us Sunday 10/9 at 2 PM. 
OBITUARY
Virginia T. Hadsell…born: November 22, 1921 – died: September 17, 2011
Born in Oakland to William and Ruth Thompson, Virginia was the first of three sisters; following her were Isabel and MaryJune. Raised in Berkeley, Virginia attended Willard Junior High and Berkeley High, graduating in 1939, and went to the University of California in Berkeley, class of 1943. Her family belonged to First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, where Virginia met – in Sunday School – the boy who became her husband on November 30, 1943, John S. Hadsell, whose parents were also church members.
The marriage of Virginia and John was held at that church; John had finished Naval Officer Training and, following the wedding, served as an officer on the battleship USS Washington. After WWII John rejoined Virginia in Berkeley, where they lived briefly until they moved in 1947 to Vallejo and then to Napa, where John was a Boy Scout Executive.
Virginia and John had two daughters – Sydney (1947) and Heidi (1949) – born at Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo. Sydney became a Professor of Education and, married to Mehrdad Farivar, bore two sons: Cyrus, a journalist living with his wife Rebecca in Bonn, Germany; and Alexander, an MA student. Sydney died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2010.
Heidi is a Professor of Social Ethics and, in 2000, became President of Hartford Theological Seminary. With her then-husband, Afonso do Nascimento, she had two children: Nena, now an MA student, and Martin, in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua.
In 1954-55 the family lived in New York City so John could enter a doctoral program in education at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
The family lived next in San Francisco and then Berkeley, with Virginia earning an M.A. degree in education at California State University in Hayward. She then taught in the Berkeley Public Schools as a reading specialist. She co-authored two books about and for children: “On the Go” (1966), and “Equal Start” (1968).
In 1970 John joined the Faculty of San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo and Virginia commuted to Berkeley; in 1984 she quit teaching and organized the Center of Responsible Tourism, a program to help travelers act responsibly while visiting other nations. Belonging to Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland, she helped organize a Global Concerns Committee and led, each summer, a study tour to other nations around the globe – a total of 19 tours. She also participated in shaping a code of ethics for tourists that was circulated internationally.
In her later years, Virginia and John moved to Berkeley and finally, in 2006, to Piedmont Gardens retirement community in Oakland where John still lives.
Listen to Excerpts From The Celebration of Virginia’s Life:
Joewoen Gregory Speaks Concerning Virginia’s Support of the Berkeley Presbyterian Mission Home
Jean Norris Speaks Concerning Virginia’s activities in the Global Concerns Committee
Bonnie Hamlin Speaks Concerning Virginia’s leadership in at least 19 study tours
Richard Larsen, violinist, plays “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar