Obituary of Virginia Isabel Mullin

Virginia “Jinny” Isabell Mullin, R.N., of Annandale, VA, born on August 13, 1935, passed away peacefully on August 11, 2024, in Huntington, NY, two days before her eighty-ninth birthday.

The eldest of five children born in Brooklyn, NY, to Virginia (née Holland) and John Mullin, Jinny graduated from the Academy of St. Francis Xavier for Girls before becoming a member of the inaugural class of the Saint Anselm College School of Nursing in Goffstown, NH.  She subsequently received a master’s degree in nursing from St. John’s University and did further graduate study at the University of Virginia.  Jinny’s career as a nurse spanned six decades and included a professorship at George Mason University and teaching appointments at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland.  Well into her eighties, Jinny continued to serve as the parish nurse at Saint Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Falls Church, VA, where she was a longtime parishioner.  In this role, her care for the health and well-being of her fellow parishioners, especially the poor and elderly, was renowned.  Asked by a newspaper reporter about her work at the parish, Jinny once said, “What I do is very small, but I hope it gets me to heaven.”

Jinny’s fearless and adventurous spirit belied her petite stature, whether she was taking flying and hang-gliding lessons, horse trekking in Montana, or embarking on safari in Africa.  While employed as a first-aid nurse at the Bell System Exhibit at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, Jinny single-handedly rescued an injured young driver from a burning car moments before it exploded—a feat for which she was awarded the Vail Medal, the highest award bestowed by the former Bell System upon an employee.

Jinny is survived by her sisters Joan Hoil (Herman), Patricia Lamerson (Owen, deceased), and Mary O’Connell (Frank), and her brother John “Norry” (Claire), as well as numerous nieces and nephews (some of whom she helped to raise), grand-nieces and -nephews, and great-grand-nieces and -nephews.  Jinny’s caring and generous spirit will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

A Funeral Mass will be held at the Church of Saint Patrick in Huntington, NY on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at 9:15 a.m.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.