Virginia died peacefully of natural causes in Bend, OR on July 1, 2016, comforted by her four loving children.

Virginia was the daughter of Hugh and Helen Mertes Lowe. She was born in LaCrosse, WI and raised in Winona MN. In her final 5 years Virginia lived fully and graciously after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia.

Virginia was a lifelong scholar, social and community activist, peacemaker, and tireless advocate for social, economic and interracial justice and reconciliation. Jazz music and Frank Lloyd Wright architecture were her passions.Virginia loved horses and horseback riding, loved to travel and leaves many close and dear friends throughout the country. Virginia loved conversation and far-ranging discussions and was an avid reader.

Virginia attended the inaugural class at the new Central Elementary School in Winona in 1931, then attended and graduated from St. Thomas Parochial School. She graduated from Cathedral High School in1944 and The College of Saint Teresa in 1948. After graduation she worked briefly as a social worker for Catholic Charities in Madison, WI. In 1949 she accepted a staff position at Friendship House on the South Side of Chicago, a Catholic lay ministry focused on improving interracial relations and alleviating poverty and social injustice.

At Friendship House she met fellow staff member Jim (James Patrick) Fallon and they married on November 17, 1951 at St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in Chicago. Jim and Virginia raised their family in the Hyde Park/Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago. They were amicably divorced in 1975.

Virginia's professional career as a social worker included working for the Cook County Department of Public Aid and the Chicago Housing Authority. She retired in 1992 as Director of the Community Development Commission of the Los Angeles, CA Housing Authority.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents, her cherished son Marty (Martin) Fallon, her former husband Jim Fallon and her 4 beloved older brothers, Earl, Jerry, Ralph and Bud (Worrill) Lowe.

She is survived by her four children and their families; Daniel Fallon of Portland, OR and his daughters Mariah Jones Gutierrez and husband Tony of Dorris, CA, and Jamaica Fallon of Eugene, OR; Thomas Fallon of Oak Forest, IL and his children Joseph Fallon of Perth, Australia and Myriam Fallon of San Francisco, CA; Ann-Marie Villasana and husband Pedro and their children Camila and Adrian of Durham, NC; Mary Jo Douglas and husband Robert of Bend, OR. She is survived by great-grandchildren Johnny Feuerborn, Selena Sigmund, and Shea and Eire Jourdan.

In Winona she is survived by sister-in-law Andre Lowe, niece Debi Lowe Wildenborg, nephew Geoffrey Lowe, second cousin Chris Antoff, and a host of dear friends and relatives.

Virginia's remains will be interred, in a private service, in the Lowe/Carpenter Cemetery in Blair, WI. A public celebration of life for all of Virginia's friends and relatives will be held at the Monarch Public House in Fountain City, WI on Friday, July 15 from 3-6 pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Virginia'a name may be made to Winona Catholic Worker at www.winonacatholicworker.org or Winona County DFL at www.winonadfl.org.

The Jack Funeral Home in Blair is assisting the family with arrangements.