Virginia Collins Shields

Virginia Collins Shields passed away peacefully on July 24, at the magnificent age of 100. She had a heart as big as her spirit, a soul as generous as they come, and a sense of humor sharp enough to keep everyone around her laughing well into her tenth decade.

Born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Virginia graduated from Marywood College (now Marywood University), where she developed two loves that would define her life: her Catholic faith and an appreciation for a well-dressed occasion. After graduation, she traveled to Europe, taught for a short time, and then landed in Washington, DC, for what she always called her most interesting job: from 1949 to 1961, she worked as a cryptologist supervisor for the National Security Agency, helping break European codes in the years after World War II. She signed a contract to keep the agency's secrets to her grave — and, true to her word, she did!

In 1953, she married her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Paul J. Shields, and the two went on to build a life together centered on faith, family, learning, and no small amount of hard work.

Virginia and Paul had four children: Robert (deceased), Paula, Gary, and Lori Ann (deceased). Paul's career took the family from St. Paul to St. Louis to Chicago before they settled in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1972, home for the rest of Virginia's remarkable life.

In Jacksonville, Virginia and Paul founded Copytronics Information Systems, growing it from a single copy dealership into five Florida offices and, eventually, the largest Minolta copier dealership in the world.

But ask anyone who knew her, and they'll tell you Virginia's real gift was the people. She loved fiercely: her husband, her children, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and anyone she decided to adopt into the family along the way, of which there were many. Her Catholic faith was the quiet center of it all, sustained by a close and treasured friendship with Father Michael Larkin. She talked to God every day and never doubted His blessings were on their way.

Virginia was famous among family and friends for her rules for living well, gathered over a century of practice: eat two cookies a day, never skip dessert, always do the crossword, watch Jeopardy, and get a massage once a week (she was convinced it added years to her life — and who's to argue with the results?). She believed most of what we worry about never happens, that a visit to the hairdresser fixes almost everything, that you should always RSVP and sometimes include a note, and that kindness to people is the most important reason we're here at all.

Until her final days, Virginia's mind stayed as sharp as her wit. Each morning she'd settle in with her magnifier to read at least the front pages of the Wall Street Journal and the Florida Times-Union, and she always had a book waiting on her nightstand and something interesting to discuss with any visitor who stopped by. She learned to love baseball as a girl, listening to games on the radio with her father, and she followed sports for the rest of her life. Underneath it all was her faith, which kept her grounded in caring for those in need, staying loyal to the people she loved, and staying grateful for every blessing that came her way.

Virginia gave generously. She served as the first alumna to chair the Board of Trustees at Marywood University, where she and Paul established the Shields Center for Visual Arts. Education mattered deeply to her, and over the years she funded scholarships at several universities and colleges. Far more numerous — and far less publicized, exactly as she preferred — were her quiet gifts: additional tuition covered, nonprofits supported, religious organizations sustained.

She is survived by her daughter, Paula, her son, Gary, her sister-in-law, Irene Shields; her nephew, Mal Redington (Lani), her niece, Kay Redington, all of Jacksonville; nephew, Tim Redington, Olney MD; nieces: Judy Kurak, Reston, VA; Kathleen (Bill) Larabee, Pulaski, NY. Six grandchildren, David, Adam, Brian, Patrick, Grant, and Savannah; seven great-grandchildren; and a large and much-loved circle of grandnieces and grandnephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul; her son, Robert; her daughter, Lori Ann; her sister, Norma Redington; and her brother, Robert Collins.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on August 15, 2026, at San Jose Catholic Church at 1:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Virginia's memory to Marywood University: www.marywood.edu/makeagift

She lived a hundred years the way she told everyone else to: with faith, generosity, laughter, wonderful stories and always dessert!