Obituary of Virginia Wedderburn

Ginny was a Pixie. She loved adventure and approached it with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. She adored water. Now water is a very solitary adventure, especially adventuring under it. I guess you could blame her father for her love of it. Though he never learned to swim in the dust bowel Central Valley farming community around Lemoore where he raised his family; he loved seafood, and would take them to the ocean to forage for Pismo clams and abalone. He would lower his young daughter, Ginny, on a rope off the cliffs to gather sea snails off the rocks at low tide. As a student, she migrated to the sea by Santa Barbara and took up sailing and SCUBA Diving. It's hard to measure the true value of a woman who escapes the Central Valley to ply the wonders of the ocean. She wandered to Santa Cruz, as many adventure women do, and settled in the marine college of Moss Landing. I met Ginny when she came into O'Neill's wanting us to make her a women's diving suit. We didn't have wetsuits designed for women in the late 1960's-there were few women ventured into SCUBA diving. When she walked through the door in the travail of endless fittings, I couldn't believe what walked into my life. I have often said that I wouldn't have a penny to my name without her. Every suggestion she would put out there, "why don't we..?", was a major positive shift in my life. She got us to live on a boat, bear a child, buy a house and start our business, Adventure Sports Unlimited. Being a male, I like to think that men are the organized thinkers. I used to argue with her on every turn, and couldn't understand how she was thinking. Age and a certain amount of wisdom finally taught me that I should listen to her; yet, I still don't understand the logic of how she arrived at these decisions. I must say that Adventure Women are an amazing phenomenon. They are fiercely independent, unbelievably strong willed, and for some unknown reason, generally love men-I guess a product of this adventure thing. And Ginny was one incredible adventure girl, the mold for this breed. A Scorpio with 6 moons rising, she represented woman. I remember a Guru of Astrology we met while vacationing in the Virgin Islands who asked us our signs. He was aghast that a Capricorn could exist with a Scorpio of this caliber. He said that our arguments must be fierce but the love-making must be Divine. She taught me much, guided countless fellow adventure-seekers on epic treks throughout the world, made us look at life in all its magnificence, and nurtured us all with love through this complicated life. Her close family — our son Ryan, daughter-in-law, Emily and their two children, Ophelia and Odin, her brothers in Lemoore, Ca., Robert and Ron Wedderburn, plus the multitudes of adventure folk who have touched our business, Adventure Sports Unlimited, and I, Dennis Judson, her husband and partner for so many years, will truly miss her, for she has gone on another trek without us. Adventure Women are like that. There will be a Celebration of Ginny's life on Sunday, September 14,, 2014 on Monestary Beach beginning at 9AM. In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the charity or cause of your choice.