Robert Ginn

Robert "Jimmy" Ginn, 90, of formally of Mechanicville and Caret, Virginia, passed away peacefully on July 27, 2026, at Harmony in Hanover County, Virginia.

Jimmy was born March 8, 1936, near Savannah, to John Thomas Ginn and Mary Alice Bradley Ginn. He was one of four children. Childhood stories told years later of the Ginn boys being barefoot and dressed in rags fighting other poor folks on the Savannah Railyard for dropped coal so they could feed the cookstove at home for warmth. He attended Savannah High School for a while but found that life had more to offer than South Georgia. He followed his older sister to New Orleans for two years before entering the United States Air Force, where he served from 1956 to 1958, followed by reserve duty until 1963.

Jimmy followed his sister once again and landed in Richmond. There working at a shoe store on Broad Street he eyed a young farm girl attending the Braxton Business School. In early 1958, Jimmy formally met Nancy at the Tantilla Dance Hall on Richmond's Southside, and everything began to change. Jimmy's own childhood had been a difficult one; leaving him lacking a warm and stable home. Nancy's parents, Lenwood and Ellen, welcomed him into their warm, nurturing household, and Lenwood and Ellen treated him like a son, even taking him hunting and giving him a love for the outdoors.

Jimmy and Nancy were married in 1960 at Upper Essex Baptist Church, settling first in a trailer on Richmond's Southside before building a home in Hanover, Virginia, by 1965. There they raised two sons, Rodney and Randal. Nancy worked for the American Lung Association and was active in New Bethesda Baptist Church in Hanover County, where she played church softball and Jimmy coached the team. Jimmy and Nancy were longtime members of New Bethesda Baptist Church, where Jimmy was ordained as a deacon on November 7, 1976. He led the church's Royal Ambassadors program for many years, faithfully mentoring and encouraging young people and pointing them toward a relationship with the Lord.

In 1976, Jimmy and Nancy purchased 26 acres adjoining her family's home place in Caret, and he began building Nancy's dream home on the land. Over the following years, they purchased her home place, expanding the farm. By 1983, Nancy's dream house was complete, and they filled their days tending a garden working around the house, Jimmy and Nancy loved visiting with family the way her own parents once had. Jimmy worked as a truck driver with most of his career with Pilot Freight Carriers. He retired in 1997 to care for Nancy, who was ill with Alzheimer's. After he retired, Jimmy devoted himself to caring for Nancy and raising cattle on the family land and playing the guitar.

For a time after Nancy's passing, Jimmy lived in Florida before returning to Virginia, settling in Montross and later attending Cobham Baptist Church in Warsaw, where Wanye Carter taught him "so much about the bible". Around 2018, he moved back home to the family farm in Caret, where he remained until moving to Harmony in Hanover.

Jimmy was an avid bird hunter who loved to hunt quail, He and Zeke would walk for hours on end chasing a quail. He also competed actively in field trials throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He also had a deep love of music that started at an early age. He learned to play the guitar by ear and later taught himself how to read and play by sheet music. A guitar player in numerous bands throughout his life, Jimmy loved to play and sing and never missed a chance to entertain - He always remembered and thought of his music friends Phil, Mary, Dave, Peggy, Lee, Floyd, Wes, Jerry, John, Marg, Bill, Mary Ellen, Don, and Lavern.

Jimmy is survived by his sons, Rodney A. Ginn and wife Julie, of Studley, Virginia, and Randal J. Ginn and wife Sarah, of Caret, Virginia; grandsons Joseph Allen Ginn, Lewis Allen Ginn, and William Henry "Hank" Ginn; and granddaughter Eleanor Mae "Nora" Ginn.

He is also survived by a sister-in-law Jackie B Ginn of Woodstock, Georgia; niece Sheryl Ginn Taylor and husband Stephen and grand-niece Charlize, of Woodstock, Georgia; and niece Angela Ginn Rusk and husband Lee, of Woodstock, Georgia. He is further survived by brother-in-law Lewis "Zeke" Hanzlik, of Disputanta, Virginia; nephew William Hanzlik; niece Teresa Long and husband John; and grand-nephew Earl Long and wife Kaitlyn, of Prince George, Virginia.

Jimmy was also blessed with close family friends Mark and Sandra Dawes, of Mechanicsville, Virginia, and Peggy Davis, of Warsaw, Virginia.

The family extends a special thank you to Jimmy's healthcare providers: Elizabeth with hospice, Julia with companion care, and Jessica with the Veterans Administration, for their compassionate care.

The family will receive friends on Friday, July 31, 2026, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at Faulkner Funeral Homes, Marks-Bristow Chapel, Tappahannock. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m, on Saturday, August 1, 2026 at the funeral home with interment following at Upper Essex Baptist Church Cemetery.