Virginia Carolyn Kunde

Virginia Carolyn (Beck) Kunde went to be with the Lord in Heaven on May 31, 2023 at the age of 98. 
Virginia, or Ginny as she was called by her family, was born on January 6,1925 in Duluth, Minnesota 
to Joseph Henry Beck and Berthine Elisa Olsen Beck. Virginia was born to first- generation United 
States citizens who immigrated from Germany and Norway. She was the third child born to Henry and 
Berthine, and would eventually be the middle child of five children in the Beck household.

Born into a home that had a strong faith in God, Virginia was baptized on April 18, 1926 at First 
Presbyterian Church in Duluth. She graduated from Duluth Central High School in 1943. She attended 
one semester of college at University of Minnesota Duluth before going to work at the Weather 
Bureau in Duluth. She married Maurice Louis Kunde on October 13, 1951 and resided in Duluth where 
her first child, Brian, was born. The next year they moved to Colorado, where she lived for the 
next 70 years. Virginia welcomed two additional children, both daughters, Lynn in 1956 and Cheryl 
in 1959.

Virginia went to work for the Colorado Department of Education, then later joined Mountain Bell, 
the local division of the Bell Telephone Corporation. Although she started in sales for Yellow 
Pages advertising, she was offered a position in the computer technology department as one of the 
first programmers ever hired at Mountain Bell. She retired from the phone company in 1992 after 25 
years.

Mother of three, grandmother of eight, and great grandmother of seven, Virginia loved her family 
dearly. She loved spending time with each of them reading, singing songs, playing games, shopping, 
cooking, and having fun together. They were the light of her life! She also had an amazing ability 
to garden. When she moved from Minnesota, she brought no less than 10 trees to plant in the yard of 
the new house. She planted beautiful gardens filled with spectacular perennial flowers that bloomed 
all summer long. Her green thumb was legendary in the neighborhood. When springtime came and she 
planted annual flowers to compliment the perennials, the neighbors would come by to see her gardens 
and admire her handiwork.

As a member of North Presbyterian Church, she was dedicated to raising her children in a Christian 
home. Later they attended First Baptist Church and then Riverside Baptist Church where she was a 
member until her passing.

One of her favorite things to do was to travel back to her hometown to see her extended family. She 
would light up with happiness when she would see Lake Superior as we drove into Duluth on Highway 
35. She loved Duluth and would often tell stories about growing up there. Love for her family 
filled her life, whether it was her children and their offspring, or whether it was her siblings and 
their children, they are who she cared for and who she loved more than herself.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents; siblings Robert Beck, Mary Jane Miller, and Maybell 
Ward. She is survived by her sister Mildred Nimmo of Duluth, her children Brian, Lynn (Steve) 
Dananay, and Cheryl (Terry Hensley, eight grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. She will be 
missed by those she is leaving behind, but will be looking forward to the beautiful reunion that 
will occur in heaven as each of her loved ones eventually joins her there.

A memorial service will be held at the Park Hill Cemetery Chapel, 2500 Vermillion Road, Duluth, MN.