Virginia H. Eshoo

Virginia Hickey Eshoo of Portsmouth, NH died late in the afternoon of June 14, 2020 with her three daughters by her side. Jinny was born on May 8, 1928, the youngest of five children to Edward V. and Mary R. Hickey. In her later years, she recalled fond memories of growing up in Newton, MA, and her summers in Jaffrey, NH with her family.
Jinny attended Marymount College in New York, Kathryn Gibbs Secretarial School in Boston, and worked at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for five years. In 1958 Jinny moved to Manchester NH where she lived for 38 years. She worked at the Currier Gallery of Art for 18 years, including as Director of Membership where she created an "Art Tour Program," leading members to museums in the US and trips abroad including to the British Isles, the Danube, Scandinavia, Russia, Italy, Spain, Greece and France. She had cherished memories of the people who traveled with her on these trips.
She was also active politically as a selectman, dedicated poll worker, and early supporter of Democratic Presidential Candidates; in 1969 Eugene McCarthy held his first nationally televised press conference in her living room. She kept up on politics and loved the NH Primary seasons every four years and watched Rachel Maddow every evening.
She moved to Portsmouth in 1996 and immediately became part of the community, working at the NH Art Association and later the Coolidge Center for the Arts at the Wentworth Coolidge House, and she also served on the Board of Advisors for the Museum of Art at the University of New Hampshire. She loved living in the South End, being near the water, Prescott Park, the wonderful Portsmouth Library, friends and family.
To her family and friends Jinny's wit was a hallmark. Once when asked by someone, looking for a more familiar name for her, "Virginia, what would you like us to call you?" She answered "successful." She had an answer for everything and usually one that made you laugh out loud. A pot of tea however was a serious matter; 'prime the pot,' a phrase her girls and her granddaughters hear in their sleep.
Predeceased by her four siblings, Edward V. Hickey, Jerrold R. Hickey, Nancy H. Ryan and Janet H. Drummond, Jinny was the last of her generation. She leaves her three daughters: Martha Eshoo, husband Keith Dolan and their daughters Emma and Phoebe; Amy Eshoo, husband Richard Davie and their son Owen; Nina Eshoo and her partner Sara Beasley and their son Mesfin; as well as her dearest cousin Connie Fields, sister-in-law Sue Hickey, nephew Ted Drummond, nieces Amy Ryan and Lydia Ryan, and many more nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, Jinny asked that donations be made in her name to the Portsmouth Public Library, 175 Parrott Avenue, Portsmouth, NH 03801. A celebration of her life will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, July 18, 2020 at Corpus Christi Parish, 98 Summer Street, Portsmouth, NH