Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Virginia was born on October 5, 1921 to Dudley and Merl Brainard. She was the oldest of five children that included Constance (1924-2000), Eleanor (1926-2001), Charles (1929- ), and Edward (Ned) (1931- ). Dudley was a faculty member and, later, St. Cloud State president from 1943 to 1947.
After one year at St. Cloud State Teachers College, Virginia attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. She graduated in 1943.
After graduation in 1943, Virginia worked at the Clinton Daily Herald. She eventually made her way to the Minneapolis Tribune. From 1962 to 1989 she served as executive director of the Ramsey County Historical Society in St. Paul. Here she founded the Society’s quarterly magazine, Ramsey County History, in 1964. She was author of many magazine articles and fifteen books in the field of state and local history.
On April 22, 1950, Virginia married Richard Kunz in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They had two children: Susan and David. Richard passed away in 1978. Virginia died on January 7, 2005 at the age of 84.