Longtime resident and community volunteer Virginia “Ginny” (nee Justus) Harmon, passed away on Dec. 17, 2024, at the age of 98.
According to her daughter, Cindy Lucking, Ginny established roots in Elmhurst when the Harmons moved here after her dad, Earle, was transferred in 1958 for his work; but not before first creating other roots in Oklahoma City, Okla., where they both grew up.
The couple met in high School, Lucking noted, and married when Ginny was 17 and Earle was 21 (with her parents’ permission).
They had actually met on a blind date, she continued, but, she said with a laugh, “They were not each other’s date!”
“My dad took one look at her and that was it,” Lucking added. “They were married for 70 years.”
While Earle served during World War II, Ginny went to live with her sister in Texas. When Earle returned from the service, they moved back home to Oklahoma City where they worked and continued their education until moving to Elmhurst.
The seeds they planted for those new roots in Elmhurst would grow into Ginny volunteering for many organizations, serving on boards, opening a business and making a difference in the lives of the Elmhurst community.
One of the first things she did, Lucking recounted, was get involved with the Elmhurst Evening Woman’s Club, where she served as president in 1965 and also directed the club’s choral group called The Harmonettes for 25 years.
The Harmonettes performed on many occasions, even getting their families and friends involved in participating in programs that Lucking said helped to raise funds for purchasing a new bandshell for Elmhurst.
She and Earle joined the Elmhurst Presbyterian Church where she served as an elder and was a member of the choir and a soloist.
Earle’s job required him to travel a great deal and fortunately, she was able to join him many times to a lot of interesting destinations. She got the “travel bug” prompting them to open Unique Travel Service which remained in business for 50 years, Lucking said.
That move led her to become involved in the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce; she was a board member of the Elmhurst Economic Development Corp. for two terms, and was the first woman on the chamber’s board of directors, and also became the first woman president of the chamber.
“She was most proud of helping establish the Elmhurst Chamber Ambassadors, who to this day are still present at chamber events wearing their bright green coats,” Lucking pointed out.
Ginny received recognition from various organizations, including Illinois Business Woman of the Year (1985) from the Illinois Federation of Women’s Clubs, and was honored with a “Salute to Women in Business” (1997) from the Elmhurst chamber. In 1998 Ginny was honored with the Civic Hall of Fame Award at the opening of “Elmfest.”
Unique Travel won an award in 2000 as a woman-owned company, and Ginny was selected as one of the “Prominent Women of the Twentieth Century” in a 2001 book called “First Ladies of Elmhurst,” written by Eugenie Urick and Ruth Strand.
Ginny also served on the YMCA board for 16 years.
Elmhurst College also played a big role in Ginny’s involvement in the community.
“Both my mother and father felt it was a privilege to be a part of the growth and development of the college,” Lucking outlined, citing how in 1992 her parents were invited by the Fricks, along with three other couples, “to help form a new organization of citizens in the community, tasked with linking the college and community together for the mutual benefit of both. They happily accepted.”
Ginny once spoke, in 1999, at Elmhurst College Celebrates Women “Putting Our Stamp on America.” Women in Leadership: Past, Present and Future, and she emphasized the importance of having initiative, the right attitude, good self management; being able to set goals; and developing the ability to get along with coworkers.
Ginny served on the board of trustees and in 2005 the Harmons were awarded the Founders Medal, at which time she stated that serving on the board was “a very rewarding and educational experience.”
Serving on several committees, she observed how the college was “attracting very outstanding and talented young people,” while at the same time praising the “exemplary faculty.”
“It’s heartwarming knowing they’ll still be making a difference in the lives of students, enabling them to reach their potential and follow their dreams through the Earle Darby Harmon III Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Virginia Harmon Endowed Scholarship Fund for International Studies,” Lucking commented.
Additionally, Ginny served as a trustee of the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation for 23 years and along with her husband Earle, actively served on annual giving and capital fundraising campaigns which included a substantial leadership gift they gave to the Elmhurst Memorial Center for Health campaign, according to Lucking.
Lucking proudly reflected on Ginny’s life, saying that for as long as she can remember, “I always considered my mom [to be] a true trailblazer … a multi-talented woman. She was one of a kind.”
“Everything she did, she did it to the fullest,” Lucking summed up.
Ginny was preceded in death by her husband (2014) and son Darby (1990), and was the grandmother of three grandsons and two great-granddaughters.
A private family service will be held in Oklahoma City at a later time.