Obituary of Virginia Christine Mullen-Gardinier

Columbia, SC – CDR Virginia (Ginny) Christine Mullen-Gardinier, USN, Retired, 77, died April 5, 2018 at the WJB Dorn VA Medical Center’s Warriors Walk Hospice, Columbia, SC.  She was born December 20, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland to Katherine Mauzy Montgomery Mullen (McAvoy) and Edward Joseph Mullen.

She graduated from Seton Keough High School, Mount St. Agnes College, and Loyola University (MEd), all in Baltimore.  She worked five years for the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company and then joined the United States Navy for a 22 year career.  She graduated from The Naval Postgraduate School, the Army Command and General Staff College (the first non-Army female officer to do so), two of the three courses of the Navy Junior War College (at night), and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort McNair.  Her assignments in the Navy included duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; the Bureau of Naval Personnel; the Navy Military Personnel Command; and as Commanding Officer, Military Enlistment Processing Station (MEPS), Jacksonville, FL; Executive Officer of the NROTC, Purdue University; and Officer in Charge of the Navy Manpower Engineering Center Detachment Hawaii.  Her awards included The Defense Meritorious Service Medal, The Navy Meritorious Service Medal, The Navy Commendation Medal (2), and others.  She was an outstanding, proven leader.  

A member of MENSA, she was an Extra Class amateur radio operator and a Life Member of the ARRL, the U. S. Naval Institute, and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV); and a member of the United Services Organizations (USO), the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the ETV Endowment, the SPCA, and other organizations.  Ginny was a strong, gentle woman who treated everyone she met with kindness and respect.  She would extend a helping hand to family, friends, and strangers alike.  She graciously dealt with numerous medical issues in recent years including Multiple Sclerosis.  Her faith and integrity were unwavering.  She is now at rest in heaven with her loving parents and the family members who preceded her.

She was predeceased by her close friend Shirlee Jean Gardinier and her nephew James (Jimmy) Brigham McAvoy.  She is survived by her brother Gene Paul McAvoy; beloved nieces and nephews Edward Paul McAvoy (Sandy), Bradley Benjamin McAvoy, Virginia Ann Bell (Aaron), Joseph Martin McAvoy (Christie), Katherine (Kit) Christine McAvoy, Charles Louis McAvoy, Linda Kelly Allred (Paul), and Timothy Eugene McAvoy (Kitty); as well as many loved great nieces and nephews; her Mullen family relatives Adelina DePaula Bosley and Clara Ann DePaula Burnham (Richard); her long-time friend Margaret Mary O’Malley; and her well loved extended family Eleanor and Margaret Matheson.

Her family thanks all the many friends and medical staff who have prayed and cared for Ginny,  the exceptional and caring nursing staff at WJB Dorn Hospital’s  Surgical Intensive Care (SICU) Unit, the Mayso Miles family,  Richard and Dawn Gregory who have helped care for her dearly loved feline buddies, and her devoted friends from Seton Keough High School.   

A local memorial service and celebration of her life will be announced at a later date.  Interment of ashes will take place at the Moreland Memorial Park Cemetery in Baltimore, MD on October 13, 2018.  Memorials may be made to the United Services Organization (USO}, the Cat Around Town Project in Elgin, SC or to a charity of the donor’s choice.