Virginia A. “Ginny” Blair wrote plays for local CBS and ABC television stations before shifting to public relations work with Smith Bucklin & Associates, where she worked for more than 20 years.
Mrs. Blair, 86, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on Friday, March 30, in her Evanston home, said her daughter, Janet Blair Cabot.
Born Virginia Smith in Independence, Mo., Mrs. Blair received a bachelor’s degree in speech from Northwestern University.
After getting married and starting a family, she was in many ways the “quintessential housewife,” joining a book club and playing bridge, said her daughter. She was a lifelong member of the Woman’s Club of Evanston, for which she wrote and directed an annual fundraising show.
Her interest in writing led her to create 30-minute minidramas in the early 1960s for local television stations, often working with friends. In 1963, she was nominated for a local Emmy Award as the co-writer of four CBS Repertoire Workshop scripts for WBBM-TV.
From 1961 to 1964, she also wrote song lyrics for Waa-Mu, an annual variety show at Northwestern.
She joined the staff of Smith Bucklin & Associates and became head of its public relations department. One of her clients was the Cremation Association of North America, and after retiring from Smith Bucklin in the mid 1990s she continued to work for the association until 2004.
Mrs. Blair helped it grow from 300 members to 1,300 members, said Jack Springer, a colleague at Smith Bucklin and the association for 23 years. The association named an award after her, the Ginny Award, which is given to a member of the company with the best advertising program for “cremation with memorialization,” or creating a memorial for a family member or loved one who has been cremated.
Mrs. Blair enjoyed traveling to far-flung places and at one time owned a 1965 canary yellow Mustang convertible.
“She had charisma,” said her son, Warden T. “Hill” Blair III.
Her daughter said she “was a sunny optimist.”
“She took a bite out of life,” her daughter said.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Warden. Survivors include her daughter and son.
A service will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. in Northminster Presbyterian Church, 2515 Central Park Ave., Evanston.