Dr. Virginia Childs Chamberlain,
72, a long time resident of Bethesda, Maryland, and recently of Palm
Harbor, FL, died Tuesday August 31, 2010 in her daughter's Salem
home following a long illness.
Born in New London, Connecticut
January 25, 1938 she was the only child of the late Elbert and
Catherine Fussell Childs. Raised In Hastings-on-Hudson, New York she
was a graduate of Connecticut College, graduating as a chemistry
major. "Ginny" moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a career in
biochemistry at the National Institute of Health, then went to work
at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the Food and
Drug Administration. Upon her retirement from the FDA she worked for
several years as a sterilization consultant for the medical device
industry . Settling in Bethesda, Maryland, Virginia married and
raised two children, volunteered to teach science to kids and
created floral arrangements for her church. Along the way she
received a MS in Biochemistry from George Washington University, and
a Ph.D. in Chemical Toxicology from American University at the age
of fifty. Dr. Virginia Chamberlain was the founding Chairperson of
the International Standards Organization Technical Committee 198,
Sterilization of health care products
. She chaired numerous national and international committees that
wrote sterilization standards for health care products , which are
widely used today. She traveled to several international standards
meetings including London, Stockholm, Vancouver, Ottawa, and New
Orleans . Getting to know her counterparts around the world gave her
insights into other cultures and enabled her to find common ground
among all committee members from academia, industry and government
to write many voluntary consensus sterilization standards. Since
retiring in 1995 she also pursued her long-term interests—landscape
gardening, hiking in the beautiful North Carolina mountains,
swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, quilting, and studying history. She
enjoyed Brubeck, Ella, and Sinatra. With her longtime companion, "
Skip " Edmonds, she enjoyed bridge, tennis, theater, opera,
classical and jazz concerts. After moving from Maryland in 1997 she
wintered in Palm Harbor, Florida and summered in Hendersonville,
North Carolina. Her most recent favorite pastime was being a
grandmother.
In addition to her longtime companion Henry G. “Skip” Edmonds of
Florida, she is survived by a son, Steven M. Ross and his wife Nancy
of Mountain View, California, a daughter Linda Ross Girard and her
husband Thomas of Salem, three grandchildren, Nathan Ross of
California and Samantha Jean and Rosalyn Virginia Girard both of
Salem.
Her funeral service will be held Sunday, September 5 at 4 pm in the
First Presbyterian Church 179 County Road, Ipswich, MA 01938. Family
and friends are respectfully welcomed. In lieu of flowers memorial
contributions in her name may be made to
Suzanne Berlin,
D.O, Women’s Cancer Program, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
44 Binney Street, Boston,
MA 02115-6084.
