Virginia Vincent

May 3, 1921 – December 3, 2021 

The remarkable life of Virginia Vincent has come to a close. Born in Leduc Alberta on May 3, 1921 – right after the Spanish Flu had swept the world – Virginia Hilda Holland was raised in a family that served Jehovah God. She has by far outlived her five siblings and thus it truly is the end of an era for our family.

At the time of her death on December 3, 2021 she was exactly 100 years and 7 months old. Thus her life was bookmarked by two great pandemics, one of which still rages on.

Her early years were spent in Alberta where life was challenging during the 20s and 30s. Nothing was handed to you. Everything had to be earned. But by 1937 she had made a dedication to Jehovah and was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses on July 25th. Therefore she was baptized for an almost unimaginable 84 years, which is longer than most people live!

In 1940, the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses was banned by the Canadian government. Shamefully, an RCMP officer worked deceitfully to infiltrate their little congregation, and the result was Virginia and her Mother being sent to prison in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta for two months. On the day this injustice was rectified in court and the victims exonerated, Virginia was wearing a large broach with the letter ‘V’. Local media incorrectly reported that this stood for Victory, when in fact it simply stood for Virginia.

Meanwhile, several provinces away, the Quebec government had for years worked feverishly with the Catholic Church to stamp out Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many there also went to prison. Eventually this injustice was settled by the Supreme Court, and that opened the way for some to move to Quebec as pioneers. Virginia responded to that need, and there she met and married John Vincent in 1954. They would go on to celebrate 63 anniversaries until his death in 2018.

Virginia became Mother to two children in the late 50s – Keenan in 1957, and Giselle in 1958. The family lived primarily in southern Ontario, and for many years in the 60s and 70s was associated with the Georgetown Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many lifelong friendships developed during those years, and several from that era have come forward with remarkable stories of how Virginia touched their life, sometimes in truly profound ways. Her travels with John eventually found them living in Manitoba, and by the late 70s and through most of the 80s Virginia had the wonderful experience of grandchildren with the births of Joel, Jesse, Justine and Janine. As things turned out, these four children would become pivotal in the rest of Virginia’s long life. Tragically in 1987, her daughter Giselle died at age 29, leaving these four young children motherless. To a large degree, she then began assisting in raising her grandchildren and thus developed unusually close bonds with all of them. Hence her death is more than the loss of a grandmother – they have lost a mentor and a real friend.

Throughout all these ups and downs, Virginia maintained a very strong faith. Her zeal for preaching was well known, and her comprehensive understanding of the truth was evident in her comments and occasional words of advice. Well into her 90s she was still actively participating in all features of her local congregation, including student assignments in the Ministry School and Auxiliary Pioneering.

Her last few years found her well cared for at Fred Douglas Lodge in Winnipeg, where she was residing at the time of her death. During this time, she benefited greatly from the online provision of JW Broadcasting, and more recently Zoom meetings. This allowed her to remain connected with her faith, although largely isolated in her room.

It is impossible to properly summarize 100 years of living, as we really know only the surface of all that she did.

But our God Jehovah knows it all, and he will richly reward her for the kind and generous spirit she displayed while with us.

“I beg you, O Jehovah, remember, please, how I have walked before you faithfully and with a complete heart, and I have done what was good in your eyes.” (2 Kings 20:3)