VIRGINIA (MILACEK) LINDQUIST
Class of 1958
Inducted in 2019 |
Virginia was inducted into the SHSAA Hall of Fame in 2019.
Before attending South, Virginia attended Ashland Park Elementary. She contracted polio during the epidemic in Omaha in the early 1950’s. She spent months in the hospital and endured surgeries, wheelchairs, braces and crutches, but they never slowed her down. Even though Virginia missed months of school, she graduated from grade school on time. Her South High experiences included being on the pep squad, and enjoying the Friday night football games followed by pizza at Caniglia’s. After graduation, Virginia received a security clearance and worked at Offutt Air Force Base as a secretary in the underground for the Directorate of Operations from 1958 to 1963. She met her husband Doug at a wedding. Upon their marriage, she and Doug moved to a farm in Wausa where they still reside today. Besides being a farmer’s wife, Virginia participated in church activities, school activities, 4-H and community activities. She and Doug hosted three foreign exchange students, one from the Netherlands and two from Spain. She also worked as Norbert Tiemann’s Wausa secretary when he was campaigning for Governor of Nebraska. Virginia worked on the steering committee for Wausa’s Centennial celebration and wrote a column for the Wausa Gazette called “Sip and Chat.” Virginia has a long loving commitment to education and the public library. She served as the director of the Lied Lincoln Township Library and Lied Lincoln Township Library for 35 years. Wausa outgrew the old library (built in 1935) and a new one was needed. Virginia wrote a grant seeking funding for the new library. She received $250,000 from the Lied Foundation and with additional community support and without tax dollars; the library was built and dedicated in 2014. Then Governor Dave Heineman and his wife, Sally Ganem and several state senators attended. She created a cookbook for fundraising to furnish the new library-raising enough money from those sales for all the necessary furniture. She also spearheaded the renovation of the old library, sanding of the original oak floors, adding a kitchen with all necessary equipment, and made sure that the facility was handicapped accessible with a ramp from the old library to the new library. Virginia has received a certificate of achievement from the Sioux City, Iowa Chamber of Commerce for contributions to the development of her home and communities in the Sioux City area, and GFWC Fine Arts State Award for District three. She is a member of the Thabor Lutheran Church and has taught Sunday school and was the superintendent, as well as a youth group leader. The tiny farming community of Wausa has benefited from the library and Virginia’s devotion to it. The facility serves a need for Wausa and the surrounding areas by providing meeting space, computers, a FAX machine, printers and copiers as well as a large library of hard bound books, CD’s and DVD’s. Virginia and Doug have two children and five grandchildren. |