Virginia Steininger

VIRGINIA (Ginny) STEININGER nee Lentz, age 89. January 17, 1929 – August 24, 2018. Beloved wife of the late C. Reed; dear mother of David Steininger, and Janellen SteiningerCreevey
(the late Rae); loving sister of the late Jane Cross; cherished aunt of Karol (Richard) Landman, Mike (Molly) Steininger, Kathy (Tom) Zuendell, Karen “Sami” (John) Lenark, Bonnie Sano, Starr Thompson, Bert, Mark Ketchum, and Mark Cross. Funeral Services Wednesday September 5, 11AM at Solon Community Church, 33955 Sherbrook Park Drive, Solon. Interment Mt. Hope Cemetery. Family will welcome friends at STEINBAUER FUNERAL HOME, 33375 BAINBRIDGE RD., SOLON FROM 5-8 PM TUESDAY. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The
Solon Community Church, and The Children’s Museum of Cleveland.

Virginia was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to Elizabeth (nee Rhodes) and David Lentz. She graduated from Solon High School in 1947. She married C. Reed Steininger on November 23, 1950. Virginia received her Bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and attained a Master’s degree in early childhood education from Kent State University. She taught Kindergarten and then spent nearly 15 years as a teacher and director of Solon Co-operative Preschool. She subsequently became the director of the child-care program for the Cuyahoga Valley Vocational School,
where she taught courses in child development and helped establish the first public preschool in Ohio for children with difficulties. She then spent 16 years as the Educational Director of The Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development from which she retired in 1993. Since then, she served on its board and advisory board. Most recently she and colleagues from Hanna Perkins called The Grandmothers, (“The Grannys”,) wrote parenting articles for blog posts and for The Cleveland Plain Dealer. These articles have been compiled into a book, “Timeless Advice for Parents of Young Children” published by Hanna Perkins, for which she was still working on the final galleys and which will be released this Fall. Virginia and the Grandmothers were presented this past April
with The 2018 Hadden Award from Hanna Perkins Center. A nature lover from childhood, Ginny enjoyed hiking in the local parks. She and her husband Reed were also avid golf players and, wherever they encountered a dance floor with big band music, they’d be on it. She enjoyed the arts and supported the Cleveland Symphony, The Cleveland Playhouse, and The Cleveland Art Museum. In their travels, Ginny and Reed would always visit the local museums from the Louvre in Paris to LACMA in Los Angeles. They also sang together for many years in the Solon Community Church choir, joined by their children David and Janellen. Although she didn’t have grandchildren to spoil, her grandpuppies – and kitten, benefitted from her doting. Ginny was also a passionate reader. She was preparing to host her next book group at the time of her passing. She died at home from natural causes on Thursday, August 23rd.