Virginia Meredith Obituary

Virginia Hale Meredith, a lover of music with a free spirit who approached the world with wonder, died on January 14, 2026 surrounded by family and loved ones. For many years, she devoted her energies to running Inspirit, a non-profit based in Palm Beach County.

Ginny, born Virginia Lee Hale on September 20th, 1956, was an Ohio native who grew up in Orchard Park, NY, and attended Alleghany College in Meadville, PA, Simmons College in Boston, and Utah State University. She had lived in Lake Worth since 1985, when she moved to Florida with her first husband, Rick Williams. Their daughter Kelly was born two months later and their son, Conor, six years after that.

Ginny's time in Utah reveals a lot about her spirit. She had always been an outdoors girl, and an adventurer with a mischievous sense of humor. She loved hugging trees, gardening, camping, stargazing, starling murmurations, train rides, skiing, hikes, finding symbols and magic in nature–and of course, concerts and music. She considered her years in Utah among the most important of her life. While she loved the life she built in Florida, she never stopped missing the beauty and grandeur of that state.

In 1984 she and her future husband Rick Williams ascended 10,700 feet on skis to the top of Snake Creek Pass, outside Salt Lake City, where they were married in three feet of snow. As the story goes, one of their friends had to be evacuated on a sled due to the extreme conditions. Their adventure had begun.

After relocating to Lake Worth, Ginny found work in the non-profit sector, first with Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Palm Beach County, where she helped underserved women navigate the early days of motherhood, and subsequently with Children's Services Council, where she advocated on behalf of families throughout South Florida.

When she was 41, Ginny was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was a courageous fighter with a determination not just to survive, but to live with gusto. Her illness was a challenge that, through the years, affected not only her health but her life path. Because she was a skilled violinist and pianist, as well as a deeply empathic person by nature, she understood the potential of music to heal and enliven. As a result, in 2001 she founded Inspirit, a community-based, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to bring music and the performing arts to nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, children's shelters, mental health centers, youth detention facilities and other organizations that serve people in need. For 21 years, the organization was her primary focus, and its work continues today.

Through the years, Ginny played the fiddle with various South Florida bands, including Saints Preserve Us, Illumination, The Kath Bloom Band, the Gin-Kats, and the Banyan Street Jug Band.

During the 28 years she lived with cancer, Ginny defied several prognoses and seemed to ignore nearly every survival statistic, enjoying several long periods of remission. During that time, she continued to be a prolific painter at her beloved weekly art classes, and to remember fondly all her wild travel adventures, including trips to England, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

Ginny is survived by many who loved her deeply. She was immensely proud of her daughter Kelly Breez, a Miami-based fine artist, and her son Conor Williams, a New York City-based videographer. Their father, Rick Williams, is now retired and living in Sebastian, FL. She is also survived by her sister Deborah Smith and her two brothers, William Hale and David Hale, all of Virginia. Ginny loved all her nieces and nephews, and the young families they had started. She was married to Bill Meredith, a fellow musician, for a decade, and had found companionship with Mike Anglin, another fellow musician, since 2016.

Her son, Conor, shares a memory that illustrates Ginny's approach to life: "We were on the subway platform in New York waiting on a train and there was a musician playing a song and singing. Out of hundreds of people, she was the only one watching him and supporting him. She stood about 10 feet from him and was dancing to his song. When he finished playing she donated money to him, and told me, 'we gotta support musicians!'"

A Memorial Service will be held Thursday, February 19 at The Bamboo Room in Lake Worth. Donations in her memory can be made to Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies coalition of Palm Beach County and Sierra Club.