Virginia Holler Matson

Helen Virginia “Ginnie” Holler Matson of Ruidoso, New Mexico, passed away on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. She was 88 years old. Ginnie was born to Helen Annette Cloherty Holler and George Linck Holler on December 15, 1933 in Franklin, Pennsylvania.

The family briefly lived in Grove City, Pennsylvania, before settling in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, where Ginnie’s father worked as a pharmacist. As a child, she took piano lessons at the local Methodist church, which proved to be a lifelong passion. She also enjoyed playing saxophone in the marching band at Rochester High School, where she graduated in 1951.

She began dating Ralph Chester Bennett, Jr., also of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, and studied as a music major at Indiana State Teachers College (now part of Indiana University of Pennsylvania) while teaching private music lessons. She then transferred her studies to the Pittsburgh Musical Institute, where she studied pipe organ and piano under William Henry Oetting, a founder of the school.  

She and Ralph married on June 19, 1954 in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, following Ralph’s graduation from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now part of Carnegie Mellon University). The pair moved to Texas for Ralph’s basic training when he volunteered for the U.S. Army and ultimately settled in Corpus Christi, Texas, where their first child, Robert “Bob” Linck Bennett, was born in 1957. They welcomed daughter Julia “Juli” Annette Bennett in 1963. The union lasted 25 years.

In the 1970s, Ginnie embarked on a new career in real estate, becoming a “million-dollar producer” and winning “rookie of the year” from Group One Real Estate. She volunteered with The Art Museum of South Texas’ Christmas Tree Forest and the Art Center of Corpus Christi’s Art Jamboree. In 1979, she married Bruce Walter Matson, and the marriage continued until his passing in 2011. The couple shared a passion for genealogy and spent much of their retirement traveling to research family records. Apart from genealogy, Ginnie was also an avid quilter and birdwatcher.

Ginnie is preceded in death by her parents, Helen and George Holler; sisters Dorothy “Dorie” Ann Holler Jones and Catherine “Cathie” Jane Holler Farris; and nephew Kevin Vance Hines. She is also preceded by Ralph Bennett and Bruce Matson. She is survived by son Robert “Bob” Linck Bennett and wife, Cari, of Dallas; Julia “Juli” Annette Bennett Ferguson of New York; granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth Bennett of Dallas; devoted stepdaughter Karen Matson of Dallas; and stepson Mark Matson and family of Houston. She is also survived by beloved niece Kylie Ann Himes Smith of Ruidoso, New Mexico; cherished great niece Kelcey Smith of Carlsbad, New Mexico; great nephews Chance Smith and Aaron Smith; and extended family and friends.

A private family memorial will be held Monday, November 21 at 10:15 a.m. at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

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