Virginia "Ginna" Kraabel Lundeen

Virginia (Ginna) Kraabel Lundeen, 92, of Bloomington, passed away on January 30, 2023 in Bloomington.

Her memorial service will be at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February, 15, 2023 at St. John’s Lutheran Church at 1617 E. Emerson St., Bloomington. Deacon Lyn Ahearn will be officiating with the Reverend Dr. Allison Jones Lundeen. Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. until the time of the church service.

Ginna was born on February 7, 1930 in Decatur, Illinois a daughter of Rolfe and Myrtle Kraabel. Her baby sister called her Ginna and that name stuck. She is survived by Edgar E. Lundeen Jr., whom she married in 1952 in Decatur, IL. They lovingly celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in November, 2022.

Ginna attended Decatur public schools & the Cranbrook Kingswood School, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She earned her BA at the University of Illinois in 1952 in Commerce. She then accompanied her husband Ed to Frankfurt, Germany for a year while he was serving in the military. While raising three sons with Ed, she earned her MA at Illinois State University in Guidance & Counseling. In 1978, she went on to complete her doctoral degree at Illinois State University in Educational Administration. 

Ginna won an international award for the best doctoral dissertation in school business financing and was honored at the ASBOUSC in Washington, D.C. At the time she was a Research Associate and Business Manager at the Center for Educational Finance at Illinois State University. She enjoyed teaching a statistics class for a semester. Fascinated by technology, she was an early computer adoptee purchasing a Tandy TRS Model 1 home computer in 1978.

Called to help others in need, she went on to work as a guidance counselor at Central Catholic High School. With friends at St. John’s, Ginna was engaged in Prison Ministry and she led the Steven’s Ministry and was on the Church Council. She and Ed taught Sunday School for many years at St. John’s. She loved Jesus and her faith was an important part of her life. She treated people compassionately and cared deeply about truth, honesty and justice. 

Ginna loved playing golf and was at one point the President of the Ladies Golf Association at Bloomington Country Club. She especially loved playing golf with her young grandson, Jim Jr. on his summer visits. At Lake Bloomington, in the summer, she enjoyed teaching the neighborhood children how to sail and sponsored Red Cross Water Safety classes. She also liked to waterski and encouraged others. She enjoyed flying as a navigator with Ed in their Cessna Skylane airplane. She never wanted to fly alone but took instruction to be able to successfully fly to a safe landing if the need should arise. Her longest navigation job was to St. Kitts in the Virgin Islands.

She was a member of the Dozen’s Club, a local book club founded over 100 years ago, she volunteered at the Arts Center and was active in a local Mahjong group. She loved genealogy, gardening and travel. She was a Co-President of the Lake Bloomington association several times. A friend summed up Ginna as “kind, generous and so smart”. She liked people. 

In addition to her husband, Edgar E. Lundeen Jr., she is survived by her sons James E. Lundeen Sr. (Cynthia), William T. Lundeen (Allison), Robert R. Lundeen (Amy). She is survived by her grandchildren, Patty Hume (Jonathan), James Lundeen Jr., Valerie, Virginia and Beverly Lundeen and great-grandchildren Christopher and Addison Lundeen. She is also survived by her sister Florence Leigh in Indianapolis, Indiana and her family. 

Inurnment will be in the St. John’s Lutheran Church Columbarium. Memorial contributions may be left to Home Sweet Home Mission or to St. John’s Lutheran Church.