Virginia Marie Arnett

Virginia Marie Arnett, 81, of Hudson died at home of cancer on July 6, 2026. It was her fourth fight with the disease in 25+ years.

Born in Chicago on April 10, 1945, Ginny was the second oldest of five children in a rambunctious household. Her parents divorced early, and her father, Gordon J. Arnett, raised her and her older brother, Larry, adding three more children to the mix when Gordon remarried in 1953.

Ginny lived a busy life with her family, escaping to her room for peace and quiet. She struggled with a lifelong cognitive delay, persevering to make a life for herself the way she liked it. She was a firm negotiator with her siblings, and since Ginny had the only TV in the house in her bedroom, there were many discussions about who could watch it. With very few support services available in the 1950s and ‘60s, Ginny got the schooling she could, preferring numbers to letters and life at a slower pace. She enjoyed her own company but was also very social and made friends wherever she went.

Ginny was by far the neatest and tidiest of her siblings and parents, and also the best dressed. She was on time, organized and always planning her next steps. She kept close count of her money and knew what she had at all times. At age 29, Ginny took one of the family dogs and moved into her first Chicago apartment where she did her daily chores promptly, made her bed always and took great care of her houseplants. She was an attentive babysitter over the years and also enjoyed her volunteer work in the gardens at Lincoln Park Zoo. In 1999 she had her first bout of cancer in Chicago, often taking a city bus to treatment. 

In 2007, Ginny moved to Croix View Apartments in Hudson to be near her sister and family, who lived close by. Like a typical Chicagoan, Ginny was a walker and often headed to downtown Hudson for a look around the shops and a chat with the staff. Over the years she enjoyed lunch and camaraderie at all the downtown restaurants and was especially fond of the candy store. Last summer, when Ginny started having difficulty walking, she insisted on tromping to the Bingo tent at Hudson Booster Days - after dark in the rain - to try her hand at Bingo coverall. And she won! Ginny was also a card shark, showing no mercy to her opponents when playing Kings in the Corner.

Preceding her in death were her parents, Gordon Arnett and Mary (Yarnell) Wessel; stepmother, Miriam (Parshall) Arnett; and half brother Harold Arnett. Surviving are her brother, Lawrence (Carolyn) Arnett of Chicago; half brother, Thomas Arnett of Hammond IN, and his four children, Kasabez (Nezeziyah), Rachel (Alberto), William and Tristan; half sister, Alice (David) Urban of Hudson, and their two children, John (Chen Si) and Corinne (Ben). Ginny is also survived by many friends and neighbors (and another half sister, Cynthia Wessel, on her mother’s side).

A public gathering to celebrate Ginny is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 4-6 pm, in the Community Room of Croix View Apartments, 1015 Second St., Hudson (free street parking on Second Street). A private burial will be held in Willow River Cemetery, Hudson.

Memorials are preferred to Hudson Housing Authority (1015 Second St., Hudson WI 54016). They manage Croix View Apartments and provided Ginny with a clean, safe place to live for 19 years. Her apartment overlooked a large, well-kept lawn, a neighbor’s beautiful gardens, and Second Street traffic, a comforting reminder of Chicago.

Services have been entrusted to O'Connell Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Hudson. For more information, to share a memory, or to offer condolences, please visit www.oconnellfuneralhomes.com or call (715) 386-3725