Virginia Boyd Connally

"Never tell people how old you are. I did and they started treating me that way!" So said Virginia Hawkins Boyd Connally, born December 4, 1912, deceased March 31, 2019. Virginia never acted or let her age define her. After all, Virginia lived - lived! - 106 years! Two of her favorite phrases went something like, "You don't get anywhere by saying no!" and "I guess I must have said yes a lot!" That's how she got so much accomplished. Plus, she never needed much sleep, often staying up late and rising well before dawn to start her day.

She knew the importance of a healthy diet and exercise long before it was popular. In her 90s, she broke her hip, but recovered and returned to her upstairs bedroom. In her late 90s, she traveled to her beloved Finland to visit second and third generation Finnish family friends with her daughter, granddaughter and grandson. Even at 106 years old, she was alert and engaged in detailed conversations about the people and the faith (Baptist, of course) she loved, only rapidly declining the last week or two of her incredible life. Her penchant for hand-written notes was well-known, and she wrote them up until not long before her death, when she just couldn't see well enough anymore.

Virginia was born to Stella Virginia Snow Hawkins and Nathaniel Lee Hawkins in Temple, Texas on December 4 1912, the year the Titanic sank and a month after Woodrow Wilson was elected president. Virginia was their second child. She was bright, studious and shy. She graduated from high school in Temple and started junior college there. But Abilene, and Simmons University, as it was then called, became her home. Following college, she went to medical school at LSU and trained in Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat at Charity Hospital in New Orleans before returning to Abilene to start her practice in 1940 as Dr. Virginia H. Boyd. The three women in her medical school class were all told they would not graduate, but they all did. Dr. Connally's life is well-summarized in a biography written by Abilene writer Loretta Fulton titled, Virginia Connally, M.D. Trailblazing Physician, a Woman of Faith.

Virginia and her first husband, Fred Boyd, had one daughter, Genna. After a divorce from Fred, she later married Abilene oilman Ed Connally, who had two children of his own, Aubrey and Edwina. Ed was the love of her life. For more than 40 years after his passing in 1975, she would talk about how smart he was and how much she adored him. Through Ed's political connections as Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, they became good friends with Sam Rayburn, Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson, and other prominent politicians of the day, often hosting parties in Washington, DC.

Virginia and Ed's friendship with the Alhopuro family in Finland, starting in a market in Helsinki in the early 1960s, has endured now over three generations of both families. Virginia's travels and connections spanned the globe.

Virginia was a true pilgrim in so many ways. No wonder she loved Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," which she read as a sixteen year-old. Virginia was a life-long learner and reader, always encouraging young people to have a book with them at all times. She often gave books as gifts. Her favorite was Oswald Chambers' devotional book, "My Utmost for His Highest," which she provided to every high school graduate at First Baptist Abilene for decades. She even met or corresponded with Oswald Chambers' daughter, as well as other religious giants like Elton Trueblood, Malcolm Muggeridge, and Francis Schaeffer.

When you live to 106, you get to be first - or oldest! - at a lot of things. In her case, that included first female physician in Abilene, first female president of the Taylor-Jones County Medical Society, first female Chief of Staff at both St. Ann Hospital and Hendrick Medical Center, first female deacon at First Baptist Abilene. In addition, she received numerous awards and honors, including the Hardin-Simmons University Distinguished Alumna Award, the HSU Keeter Alumni Service Award, and an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from HSU. She also served as a member of the National Board of the Medical College of Pennsylvania, originally the first school in the nation for women physicians. Baptist-related awards included the Distinguished Service Award from the Baptist Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Legacy Award from the Baptist General Convention of Texas. She was the first recipient of the Global Impact Award from mission group Act Beyond. Taylor-Jones-Haskell County Medical Society awarded her their Gold-Headed Cane Award, and Texas physicians celebrated her by giving her the highest award the Texas Medical Association can bestow, the Distinguished Service Award. Only a handful of female physicians have received this honor. As her pastor, Phil Christopher, said, "Of course, she was the first woman deacon at FBC and in Abilene. Who could argue?"

At 100 years old, Virginia was the motivation behind First Baptist's Capital Campaign for Missions called "Faces and Places," which raised $4.5 million (including a $3 million endowment) exclusively for missions. Virginia and Ed were strong supporters of the old Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board. When the fundamentalists took over, she continued to support other local and international mission and Baptist organizations such as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions, Beyond, an organization focused on church planting where the gospel has never been preached, the Baptist World Alliance, the Texas Baptists' Christian Life Commission, and the Baptist Joint Committee in Washington, DC. The Connally Missions Center at Hardin-Simmons University and the Connally Chair of Missions are certainly a lasting example of her love for missions and her willingness to give. Many people give, but giving was truly her spiritual gift.

Dr. Connally is survived by her daughter, Ann Virginia Davis, granddaughters Leigh Virginia "Sundi" Spivey and Ann Bronwyn Gilliam, Ed's daughter, Edwina Connally Roberts, and numerous other relatives. The family would especially like to thank Samantha Goodman, MD, Samuel Brinkman, MD, Michael Jahrmarkt, MD, the staff and Stoney Brook Assisted Living and Memory Care in Hewitt, Ascension Providence Hospice in Waco, Visiting Angels in Abilene and Waco, and long term caregiver Gracie Gil.

A memorial service for Dr. Connally will be held at 10:00 AM Saturday, April 13, 2019 at First Baptist Church, Abilene. Visitation will be from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM on Friday, April 12, 2019 at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, Abilene.

Memorial contributions can be made to First Baptist Church Abilene Missions Fund, Hardin-Simmons University, Hendrick Medical Center, the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, Beyond.org, or the charity of your choice.