Virginia P. Dillon died January 7, 2000, at Athens Regional Medical Center in Athens, Georgia. A memorial service was held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens on January 14.
Dillon, nee Virginia Parker, the daughter of Elmer Clifford and Amelia Sebastian Parker, was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, on October 10, 1916. She received both her elementary and high school education in Canton, Mississippi, and was valedictorian of the class of 1933. She received her bachelor of arts degree from Newcomb College, New Orleans, in 1937 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She later received a library science degree from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
Dillon had a long career in librarianship, including ten years as head of the Texas Medical Center Library in Houston. She retired in 1981 from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where she had served as chief librarian of the Health Sciences Library for the previous fifteen years. She was a medical librarian for most of her career and was associate editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association from 1971 to 1974. For three years during World War II, she was on the staff of the Detroit News.
After retirement, Dillon moved to Athens, Georgia. She followed various interests through studies at the University of Georgia. She was active in the League of Women Voters of Athens. She wrote a column on language for the Athens Banner-Herald. On May 20, 1995, she married Merrill B. Dillon, a retired mechanical engineer, who had also moved to Athens in retirement.
Contributions may be made in Dillon's name to: Save the Children, 54 Wilton Road, P. O. Box 980, Westport, CT 06881–9889; to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens, 780 Timothy Road, Athens, Georgia 30606; or to a charity of choice in her name.