The late Virginia Anderson Call was a force.

During World War II, Call provided care and comfort to soldiers during some of the era's most challenging but vital medical procedures. In Richmond, she nursed her neighbors and fellow community members back to health as head nurse at Stuart Circle Hospital. After the birth of her first son at 33, she went on to raise four more children.

“She was amazing – she was always there for us,” said her third son, Robert S. Call, M.D., a Henrico researcher and retired allergist. “She was hard-working, humble and inspirational, and I wanted to do something to keep her memory alive.”

Virginia, or Ginny as she was known, was born in 1920 on a tobacco farm in Jetersville, Va., as the youngest of 12 children. At age 16, she moved to Richmond, where she made her home for the next 74 years. She attended Richmond Professional Institute and graduated in 1942 from Stuart Circle School of Nursing, where she also taught for several years. She passed away in 2013 after a brief illness.

To honor her, Call has established the Virginia Anderson Call Nursing Scholarship at the VCU School of Nursing. He hopes her story will encourage promising students in rural areas like Jetersville in Amelia County, Va., who may need financial assistance to pursue their dreams like his mother did.

“You can’t take it with you so it’s better to build a legacy through inspiring others to do the same," Call said. "And most importantly, it’s a small way to pay back my mother for all that she did for me.”

If you would like to support student scholarships at the VCU School of Nursing, please contact Pam Lowe, senior director of development, at (804) 827-0020 or plowe@vcu.edu.