Virginia MacArthur Obituary Virginia (Jones) MacArthur, 96, of Brainerd passed away peacefully on Friday, June 21, 2024, at Aitkin Health Services. In honor of her last wishes, no funeral services will be held. Interment will be at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery, Camp Ripley, beside her husband of 53 years, Robert C. MacArthur. Virginia was born December 8, 1927, in Fairmont, Minnesota, the daughter of Homer and Louise (Finke) Jones. She "always had an interest in drawing" an interest which was significantly encouraged by the schools she attended. While in high school she illustrated the school newspaper which was the start of a life-long love for the arts. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1949, majoring in both art and English education. After college, she taught art and English for one year in Edgerton, Minnesota, and then moved to the Twin Cities to work as a commercial artist for Northwestern National Life. Around this time Virginia was invited to a movie by her best friend, Marion; and, in the theater, sitting next to her best friends brother, she felt a spark. That spark led to her marriage on June 6, 1952, to Bob MacArthur. After several moves, Bobs pursuit of his teaching career landed him at Franklin Junior High School in Brainerd in 1957. Thus they raised their seven children on the north side of Brainerd near Gregory Park. Virginias children lived happily, boisterous and free, enjoying neighborhood games of Kickball and Prisoners Base, catching frogs by the Mississippi, and tennis at the local courts. During this time she was a frequent substitute teacher throughout the Brainerd school system and for one year taught the third grade class at the St. Francis Parochial School. Virginia was a very active member of the arts community and a founding member of the Brainerd Art Club. While caring for her seven children she enjoyed watercolor painting of local landscapes. Her approach to art was particularly inspired by the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and Georgia OKeeffe. In 1977 she opened Morningstar Art Gallery in Nisswa, serving as board member and manager. She worked as the Regional Arts Coordinator for Region 5 from 1979 to 1989, where she loved working with local arts groups and writing grants in order to bring art and cultural experiences to the north central region of Minnesota, advocating artistic expression in every form. She served on the advisory panel for the Minnesota High School for the Arts and was a member of the Citizens for the Arts as well as the Minnesota Alliance for the Arts in Education. After 1989 she continued working for Region 5 for the Office of Aging, promoting the interests of the areas seniors. Virginia and Bob were an intelligent, engaged couple who loved art, literature, music, and history. She had a curious, witty, sensitive mind which remained intact her entire life; and she lived stridently independent for eighteen years after Bobs passing in 2005. Virginia is survived by her children: Andrew (Twanda), and children Ayana James; Kai and Kali; James; Jean Maus, and children Laura (Ben) Wiggins and Julia (Al) Wepsala; Kerry (Nancy), and children Robert, Mary, Phillip (Sarah), Elizabeth (Joshua) Korf, and Anna (Samuel) Castro; Craig (LeeAnn), and children Ryan and Jacob; Sally Oginni (Larry), and children Rachael (Steve) Dumas, Samuel (Jamie), and Rebecca; and Ann Deuel (Hans), and children Pascal and Jesse; and her great-grandchildren: Claire Wiggins; Ayla Wepsala; Kyle, Nathan, Damien, and Richard MacArthur; Henrietta and Roland Korf; Daniel and Samuel Castro; and Thomas Dumas. She was preceded in death by her parents, Homer and Louise; her husband, Robert; sister, Betty Patsche; half siblings, Homer Jones Jr., Arthur Jones, Corinne Stevens, Jennie Carlson, and Mary Anderson; sons-in-law Earl Maus and Samuel Oginni; and great-granddaughter Kerry Castro. The family wishes to thank the staffs of Aitkin Health Services and especially of St. Croix Hospice for their excellent care of Virginia.