Born in Denver, Colorado on May 6, 1945, she died from complications of endometrial cancer at her home in Alexandria, Virginia on November 6, 2009.
She is survived by her husband, Sam; two children, Megan and Claire; two grandchildren, Aidan and Ainsley Simmons; her father, Robert F. Hemphill, Sr. of Fairfield, California; her brother, Robert, Jr. of Potomac, Maryland, and his wife Linda Powers; her brother David of Kensington, California, his wife Jennifer and daughters Lydia and Bizzy; her aunt Janet Hemphill Jenkins; cousins, Susan, Bob, Mary Dale, and Jim Jenkins, and Kathy Davis; and countless friends. A daughter Melinda, her mother Elizabeth Hemphill "Betty", and her niece Elika Hemphill predeceased her.
Gia was a loving mother and partner, deeply committed educator, and a steadfast friend to so many. She will be profoundly missed.
Gia lived in Japan for many years as the daughter of an Air Force officer, and she graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1962. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska, with one year abroad at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She continued her education toward a Masters Degree in Japanese Literature at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where she met and married her husband Sam in 1968. In the late 1980''s, she completed the High Scope training for preschool educators.
In 1995, Gia earned a Master of Education Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood, at George Mason University, graduating with honors. Gia''s lifelong commitment to education included teaching English as a Second Language in Toyko, elementary students at Assumption Mission Academy in Majuro, Marshall Islands, where her husband Sam was Deputy Peace Corps Director, fourth grade at George Washington Carver Elementary School in Yuma, Arizona, kindergarten at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, and preschool for Child and Family Network Centers in Alexandria.
Until her retirement earlier this year, Gia taught second grade for thirteen years at Glen Forest Elementary School in Bailey''s Crossroads for Fairfax County Public Schools. She also served as an Adjunct Faculty member teaching Early Education courses to Certification and Associate of Arts students at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Gia served on the Alexandria City School Board from 1986 to 1994. She was also a member of the Alexandria Early Childhood Development Commission from 1989 to 1994, serving as its chairman from 1991 to 1993.
In the early 1990''s she served as director of the City of Alexandria''s Royal Day Care Center, established by the city to serve the preschool children of mothers seeking employment or working at jobs that required assisted child care. Her educational service also included serving on the PTSA boards where her children attended school and on the Alexandria Citywide Council of PTSAs. Until her death, Gia was an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Since the 1970''s Gia was an active member of the Church of the Resurrection in Alexandria serving as a Sunday school teacher and a member of the church choir and the Worship Committee. For many years she chose the hymns for Sunday services.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Church of the Resurrection, 2280 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA, beginning at 10:00 a.m. A reception/luncheon in the Parish Hall will follow the services.
Interment will take place after the reception at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, where Gia''s ashes will be buried with her daughter and her mother.
Published in The Washington Post on 11/8/2009.
She is survived by her husband, Sam; two children, Megan and Claire; two grandchildren, Aidan and Ainsley Simmons; her father, Robert F. Hemphill, Sr. of Fairfield, California; her brother, Robert, Jr. of Potomac, Maryland, and his wife Linda Powers; her brother David of Kensington, California, his wife Jennifer and daughters Lydia and Bizzy; her aunt Janet Hemphill Jenkins; cousins, Susan, Bob, Mary Dale, and Jim Jenkins, and Kathy Davis; and countless friends. A daughter Melinda, her mother Elizabeth Hemphill "Betty", and her niece Elika Hemphill predeceased her.
Gia was a loving mother and partner, deeply committed educator, and a steadfast friend to so many. She will be profoundly missed.
Gia lived in Japan for many years as the daughter of an Air Force officer, and she graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1962. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska, with one year abroad at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She continued her education toward a Masters Degree in Japanese Literature at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where she met and married her husband Sam in 1968. In the late 1980''s, she completed the High Scope training for preschool educators.
In 1995, Gia earned a Master of Education Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood, at George Mason University, graduating with honors. Gia''s lifelong commitment to education included teaching English as a Second Language in Toyko, elementary students at Assumption Mission Academy in Majuro, Marshall Islands, where her husband Sam was Deputy Peace Corps Director, fourth grade at George Washington Carver Elementary School in Yuma, Arizona, kindergarten at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, and preschool for Child and Family Network Centers in Alexandria.
Until her retirement earlier this year, Gia taught second grade for thirteen years at Glen Forest Elementary School in Bailey''s Crossroads for Fairfax County Public Schools. She also served as an Adjunct Faculty member teaching Early Education courses to Certification and Associate of Arts students at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Gia served on the Alexandria City School Board from 1986 to 1994. She was also a member of the Alexandria Early Childhood Development Commission from 1989 to 1994, serving as its chairman from 1991 to 1993.
In the early 1990''s she served as director of the City of Alexandria''s Royal Day Care Center, established by the city to serve the preschool children of mothers seeking employment or working at jobs that required assisted child care. Her educational service also included serving on the PTSA boards where her children attended school and on the Alexandria Citywide Council of PTSAs. Until her death, Gia was an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Since the 1970''s Gia was an active member of the Church of the Resurrection in Alexandria serving as a Sunday school teacher and a member of the church choir and the Worship Committee. For many years she chose the hymns for Sunday services.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Church of the Resurrection, 2280 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA, beginning at 10:00 a.m. A reception/luncheon in the Parish Hall will follow the services.
Interment will take place after the reception at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, where Gia''s ashes will be buried with her daughter and her mother.
Published in The Washington Post on 11/8/2009.
Born in Denver, Colorado on May 6, 1945, she died from complications of endometrial cancer at her home in Alexandria, Virginia on November 6, 2009.
She is survived by her husband, Sam; two children, Megan and Claire; two grandchildren, Aidan and Ainsley Simmons; her father, Robert F. Hemphill, Sr. of Fairfield, California; her brother, Robert, Jr. of Potomac, Maryland, and his wife Linda Powers; her brother David of Kensington, California, his wife Jennifer and daughters Lydia and Bizzy; her aunt Janet Hemphill Jenkins; cousins, Susan, Bob, Mary Dale, and Jim Jenkins, and Kathy Davis; and countless friends. A daughter Melinda, her mother Elizabeth Hemphill "Betty", and her niece Elika Hemphill predeceased her.
Gia was a loving mother and partner, deeply committed educator, and a steadfast friend to so many. She will be profoundly missed.
Gia lived in Japan for many years as the daughter of an Air Force officer, and she graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1962. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska, with one year abroad at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She continued her education toward a Masters Degree in Japanese Literature at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where she met and married her husband Sam in 1968. In the late 1980''s, she completed the High Scope training for preschool educators.
In 1995, Gia earned a Master of Education Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood, at George Mason University, graduating with honors. Gia''s lifelong commitment to education included teaching English as a Second Language in Toyko, elementary students at Assumption Mission Academy in Majuro, Marshall Islands, where her husband Sam was Deputy Peace Corps Director, fourth grade at George Washington Carver Elementary School in Yuma, Arizona, kindergarten at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, and preschool for Child and Family Network Centers in Alexandria.
Until her retirement earlier this year, Gia taught second grade for thirteen years at Glen Forest Elementary School in Bailey''s Crossroads for Fairfax County Public Schools. She also served as an Adjunct Faculty member teaching Early Education courses to Certification and Associate of Arts students at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Gia served on the Alexandria City School Board from 1986 to 1994. She was also a member of the Alexandria Early Childhood Development Commission from 1989 to 1994, serving as its chairman from 1991 to 1993.
In the early 1990''s she served as director of the City of Alexandria''s Royal Day Care Center, established by the city to serve the preschool children of mothers seeking employment or working at jobs that required assisted child care. Her educational service also included serving on the PTSA boards where her children attended school and on the Alexandria Citywide Council of PTSAs. Until her death, Gia was an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Since the 1970''s Gia was an active member of the Church of the Resurrection in Alexandria serving as a Sunday school teacher and a member of the church choir and the Worship Committee. For many years she chose the hymns for Sunday services.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Church of the Resurrection, 2280 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA, beginning at 10:00 a.m. A reception/luncheon in the Parish Hall will follow the services.
Interment will take place after the reception at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, where Gia''s ashes will be buried with her daughter and her mother.
Published in The Washington Post on 11/8/2009.
She is survived by her husband, Sam; two children, Megan and Claire; two grandchildren, Aidan and Ainsley Simmons; her father, Robert F. Hemphill, Sr. of Fairfield, California; her brother, Robert, Jr. of Potomac, Maryland, and his wife Linda Powers; her brother David of Kensington, California, his wife Jennifer and daughters Lydia and Bizzy; her aunt Janet Hemphill Jenkins; cousins, Susan, Bob, Mary Dale, and Jim Jenkins, and Kathy Davis; and countless friends. A daughter Melinda, her mother Elizabeth Hemphill "Betty", and her niece Elika Hemphill predeceased her.
Gia was a loving mother and partner, deeply committed educator, and a steadfast friend to so many. She will be profoundly missed.
Gia lived in Japan for many years as the daughter of an Air Force officer, and she graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria, Virginia in 1962. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska, with one year abroad at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She continued her education toward a Masters Degree in Japanese Literature at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where she met and married her husband Sam in 1968. In the late 1980''s, she completed the High Scope training for preschool educators.
In 1995, Gia earned a Master of Education Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Early Childhood, at George Mason University, graduating with honors. Gia''s lifelong commitment to education included teaching English as a Second Language in Toyko, elementary students at Assumption Mission Academy in Majuro, Marshall Islands, where her husband Sam was Deputy Peace Corps Director, fourth grade at George Washington Carver Elementary School in Yuma, Arizona, kindergarten at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, and preschool for Child and Family Network Centers in Alexandria.
Until her retirement earlier this year, Gia taught second grade for thirteen years at Glen Forest Elementary School in Bailey''s Crossroads for Fairfax County Public Schools. She also served as an Adjunct Faculty member teaching Early Education courses to Certification and Associate of Arts students at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Gia served on the Alexandria City School Board from 1986 to 1994. She was also a member of the Alexandria Early Childhood Development Commission from 1989 to 1994, serving as its chairman from 1991 to 1993.
In the early 1990''s she served as director of the City of Alexandria''s Royal Day Care Center, established by the city to serve the preschool children of mothers seeking employment or working at jobs that required assisted child care. Her educational service also included serving on the PTSA boards where her children attended school and on the Alexandria Citywide Council of PTSAs. Until her death, Gia was an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Since the 1970''s Gia was an active member of the Church of the Resurrection in Alexandria serving as a Sunday school teacher and a member of the church choir and the Worship Committee. For many years she chose the hymns for Sunday services.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at the Church of the Resurrection, 2280 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA, beginning at 10:00 a.m. A reception/luncheon in the Parish Hall will follow the services.
Interment will take place after the reception at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, where Gia''s ashes will be buried with her daughter and her mother.
Published in The Washington Post on 11/8/2009.
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