Virginia Tatum

KENNEWICK, Wash.  —  Ginnie Wardlow, 47, of 2109 S. Dayton Place, Kennewick, Wash., died Monday (April 22, 1991) at her home due to complications of lung cancer.

Funeral services were held Thursday at Ascension Lutheran Church in Kennewick, Wash.  Burial was in Desert Lawn Cemetery under the direction of Mueller's Funeral Home.

Virginia "Ginnie" Lee Tatum Wardlow was born Feb. 18, 1944, in Mason City.  She was the daughter of James and Shirley (Martin) Tatum.  She graduated from Mason City High School in 1962 and received her R.N. training at Methodist State Hospital.  She accompanied friends to Honolulu and decided to stay and work at Queen's Hospital.  While working in Honolulu she met Ronald Lee Wardlow.  They were married in Mason City on Dec. 14, 1968.  They returned to Hawaii to complete Ron's Navy obligation.  In September of 1971 they moved to LaCrosse, Wis.  She worked at LaCrosse Lutheran Hospital in the newborn nursery for almost 10 years.  While there, Merle was born in 1971 and Travis was born in 1974.  The family moved to Kennewick in December of 1981.  She worked at Kennewick General Hospital and also started working on her bachelor's degree, which she received from Central Washington University in 1987.

In 1982, she started her career with Hanford Environmental Health Foundation as a 24-hour nurse.  When promoted to Inservice Coordinator, she taught classes to CPR and EMT instructors.  She later became nursing supervisor and until the time of her death, she served as executive assistant to the president.

She was a member of the Ascension Lutheran Church and an active participant in the Kennewick High Athletic Booster Club.  She was a certified emergency nurse, an emergency medical technician, a member of the Emergency Nurses Association, certified in advanced cardiac life support, and a member of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses.

Gennie's job and family were so important to her, they enjoyed boating and going golfing together.  She had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to laugh with friends and family.

Survivors include her husband, Ron, a Radiological Services Supervisor at The Supply System; one daughter, Mele, a sophomore at WSU; one son, Travis, a sophomore at Kennewick High School; her mother, Shirley Tatum, of Mason City; and one sister and brother-in-law, Candie and Paul Becker, and their sons Mark and Mathew, all of Fort Dodge.

She was preceded in death by her father, Jim Tatum, 1977.