Feb. 17, 1925 - Nov. 4, 2009

Evelyn Virginia "Ginnie" DeHoog Lovett, 84, passed away in her North Albany home of end-stage renal disease.

Ginnie was born in Highland Park, Calif., to Otto and Johanna DeHoog, the youngest of 11 children. Her mother was fond of saying, "Good goods come in small packages." Ginnie was a small package with a 10-foot-tall personality. She was the matriarch of the family after her mother's death in 1961, and placed high value on extended family and close friends.

She hosted 45 years of summer picnics and Fourth of July celebrations on her farm in North Albany. She was a fun-loving practical joker who enjoyed a broad spectrum of hobbies, including gardening, canning, woodworking, leather crafting, knitting, sewing and crocheting. She also enjoyed a variety of pets (a goat, sheep, dogs, cats, ducks, geese and a conure). Most of her pets lived well into their late twenties!

Ginnie was a woman ahead of her time who owned her own small business in the 1940s - a malt shop in Highland Park.

With a pioneering spirit, Ginnie jumped into the war effort during World War II, working at Lockheed as a "Rosie the Riveter." She bucked rivets on the leading edge of P-38 wings. At the age of 20, she enlisted in the U.S. Women's Army Corps in 1945. She completed basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., and was stationed at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., where she provided nursing care to WWII veterans with amputations.

She also served at Birmingham General Hospital in Van Nuys, Calif., providing nursing care to prisoners of war.

Ginnie is survived by her husband of 55 years, Dick Lovett; her brother, Robert DeHoog; her daughter, Jody Lovett-Parsons; son-in-law Robert Parsons; granddaughter Jessica Hinrichs; six nieces, Pat Coulston, Becky Ives, Jody Ferguson, Shirley Reed, Lori DeHoog and Peggy Jo DeHoog; three nephews, Ed "Ted" Jollie, Dan Ives and Ken Ives; four great-nieces, Debbie Waldschmidt, Cheri Graves, Linda LaForge and Mackenzie Bullock; and six great-nephews, Bob Reed, Ed Bak, Jim Bak, Jesse Coulston, Ira Coulston and Dustin Ives.

She was preceded in death by her parents and nine siblings.

A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at Prince of Peace Community Church in Adair Village.

Fisher Funeral Home, www.fisherfuneralhome.com, is handling arrangements.