Virginia Catherine DiGilio passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 25th, 2023, with her sons, Tony and Joey, by her side. She was 74.

Virginia was born on May 14, 1948 in Astoria, Queens, New York. She was the third of ten children to Frank DiGilio and Margaret Duffy. She was named for two great women: her grandmother, Vincenza, on her Italian father’s side; and her Aunt Katie, on her Irish mother’s side. To her brothers and sisters, she was known fondly as Ginny.

Her family moved to Bayside, Queens when she was still a child. Virginia attended Bishop Reilly, a co-educational Catholic high school, and graduated in 1966.

Virginia was intelligent, adventurous, and spontaneous. She traveled around the world, loved cooking, reading, swimming, and dancing and developed a lifelong affinity for sterling silver jewelry, convertibles, red wine, cheeseburgers (with just ketchup and pickles!), and modern witchcraft.

She embraced the cultural and spiritual revolution of the 1960s. After living in NY, Florida and LA, she moved to San Francisco in 1974. She was staunchly anti-war, pro civil rights, and a lifelong fighter for women’s equality.

In 1980, she married Michael Batalla (divorced in 1994) and they moved to the East Bay, where Virginia lived for the remainder of her life. There, they planted roots and had two sons. She became a dedicated and patient mother (and, later, a devoted and perfect grandmother) and was a natural teacher. She returned to college, graduating with honors in 1989 from California State University, East Bay (formerly Hayward) with a degree in liberal studies. She then earned her teaching credential at Chapman University and later took advanced coursework at Santa Clara University.

As a professional educator for more than 20 years, largely for the Alameda County Office of Education, she found her calling serving underprivileged youth. While teaching at juvenile hall, she built a highly successful program that helped many of her students pass the California High School Proficiency Exam and go on to college and meaningful employment. She once wrote about working with “troubled” kids that, aside from having her own children, she never felt more “right” about anything in her life.

Perhaps her greatest gift of all was her boundless capacity to love. She accepted people for who they were and treated everyone with empathy, grace, and respect. She maintained a positive perspective through good times and bad and never let outside forces diminish her outlook on life.

Virginia was cool, strong, wise, and independent - a role model to multiple generations. While her presence will be deeply missed, her spirit and legacy will live on forever.

She is survived by her two sons; ex-husband, Mike; four living siblings: Peggy, Andy, Maryanne, and Christina; three grandchildren: Alexandra, Anton, and Elyse; daughter-in-law, Stacey; step-granddaughter, Justice, and friends and family around the world.

Her ashes will be scattered in the San Francisco Bay on Easter Sunday morning, April 9, 2023. A West Coast celebration of life will be held at the Brazilian Room on April 27, 2023; an East Coast celebration will be held in New York on June 10, 2023. 

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