R. Virginia Hintsala Coleman

In Loving Memory of a World Traveler, Dedicated Teacher.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of R. Virginia Hintsala Coleman. Her journey began in a blizzard in Black River, Michigan, where she was born to Jonas and Suoma Hintsala on January 13, 1934. After 90 years of adventure including travel, raising her family and teaching, she passed peacefully in her sleep on May 2, 2024 in Monterey, California.

Virginia, a coal miner’s daughter raised on a farm, was the first one in her family to go to college and earned a BA in English with a minor in Art and an MA in Teaching and Administration at Northern Michigan University. Once completed, she began to travel the world for pleasure and work, teaching with the US Air Force. Whether you knew her as Miss Virginia or Auntie Ginny, everyone loved to grab a cup of coffee and share the photos, faces and stories of different cultures and excitement from 35 countries. A compassionate soul, she believed in the power of knowledge and shared experiences to unite people and break down barriers.

Ginny was “a teacher who trained teachers” when she met Gordon Coleman in 1966 at a Northern Michigan University faculty party. She was an NMU professor and blonde TV starlet from Suomi Kutsu (Finland Calling) who fell in love with an NMU professor and radio famous cowboy musician from Texas. They married on December 21, 1968 and had 3 children over the next 13 moves from Michigan and Texas, to Panama and back to her favorite place, the good old USA. Upon reaching the monarch butterfly filled shores of Pacific Grove in 1982, Virginia decided she would move no more.

She was a wife of 55+ years, mother for 54+ years, grandmother for 21+ years, FUMC of PG member for 41+ years (with 22 years directing the Children’s Ministry), community board member for 27+ years, Breaker Band mom and PTA member for 20+ years and a teacher who never stopped teaching.

Virginia is survived by her husband Gordon Coleman, her children Joni (Shelby) Birch, Andrew (Jess) Coleman and Kaye Coleman, her grandchildren Thor Birch, Mackenzie Coleman, Sidney Coleman and Ainsley Coleman, her niece Susie (Milton) Collick, and her nieces’ spouses (Francis “Chico” Nardi, Rick Ducoli, Derrick Suciu) and nephew Dale (Kay) Kintgen. Many family members have predeceased Virginia including her parents Jonas and Suoma Hintsala, her half-sisters Sylvia (Garfield) Kintgen and Aili (George) Koski, her nieces Shirley Nardi, Vicky Ducoli, and Janet Suciu, and her nephews Bruce Kintgen and Jon Koski.

Honoring Virginia’s wishes, no service will be held. Coffee on the patio is sponsored in Virginia’s memory at the First United Methodist Church of Pacific Grove this Mother’s Day, May 12, 2024 post service to remember Virginia and honor the mother figures in your life. In lieu of flowers, please donate to I-Help at FUMC of PG, an organization close to Virginia’s heart that supports feeding local citizens in need.

Proverbs 31:26 “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”

Farewell dear traveler, teacher, wife and mother. Your journey continues in the hearts you have inspired and we wish you well in God’s hands as you begin your ultimate voyage. You are loved.