Virginia Hopkins, 82, died on May 17, 2025, at Columbia Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. Formerly of Stockbridge and currently of Ghent, N.Y., she was born in New York City on January 26, 1943. Virginia was the daughter of the late Howard Kingsley Smith and Virginia Blackford Smith. She was raised in Fairfield County, Conn., where she graduated from Greens Farms Academy in Westport.
Receiving a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and a master’s degree from Boston College, Virginia pursued a career in research and education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cincinnati. She returned to school in 1986, obtaining a master’s degree in clinical social work from Smith College. She served individuals and families at HospiceCare in the Berkshires and at Berkshire Medical Center. Moving to New York in 2004, and following retirement from clinical practice in 2010, she received her real estate license and became affiliated with the Anderson Agency in Kinderhook, N.Y.
Virginia was a member of Saint John the Baptist Church in Valatie, N.Y. She was involved in Eucharistic and pastoral care ministry and the Junior League of Albany, N.Y. She was also a long-term advocate for the needs of professional and family caregivers and the elderly and disabled in their care.
She is survived by Mary “Jessie” Spencer Ford and Mary “Mer” Wiren of Philomath, Ore.
A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 1820 US-9, Stuyvesant, NY 12173. In lieu of flowers, donations in Virginia’s honor may be made to Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to the Humane World for Animals in care of Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230.
