Virginia "Ginnie" (Horle) Mesibov

Virginia “Ginnie” Horle Mesibov died peacefully and passed into the arms of her Savior on October 11, 2022.  She was the beloved wife of the late Harold Mesibov.  She is survived by her late husband’s in-laws, nieces, and nephews.

Ginnie was born on October 21, 1934, and grew up in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia.  She attended Philadelphia Bible Institute (now Cairn University), graduating with a degree in psychology.  She did administrative work in the field of psychiatry at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Jefferson Medical College, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia while Dr. C. Everett Koop was surgeon-in-chief.  

Later, Ginnie chose to pursue a career in music and to deepen her study and performance of piano from childhood.  She returned to school for further training and graduated from Clarke Conservatory of Music.  She taught piano at Settlement Music School, Granoff School of Music, Clarke Conservatory of Music and her private studio, all in Philadelphia.  She also concertized and accompanied vocal artists and instrumentalists. 

Ginnie met her beloved husband Harold through a singles group.  After a brief courtship, they were married, and dubbed themselves “the happy Mesibovs” for 40 years.  They settled in the Graduate Hospital section of Center City Philadelphia, where they were avid members of the Lombard Swim Club.  Ginnie taught piano, while Harold was a portrait artist and abstract painter.  She was an enthusiastic patron of the Academy of Vocal Arts and The Philadelphia Orchestra.  In 2012, the couple also became founding members of the newly relocated Barnes Foundation, where Harold had studied as a young man.

In her later working years, Ginnie devoted herself to writing and motivational speaking, in addition to nonprofit administration and piano performance.  Her inspirational articles appeared in publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Doorways, Woman, The Godly Business Woman Magazine, and the anthology For Better, For Worse.  She also wrote a monthly column, “Woman’s Corner,” for Woodland Press, a publication of Woodland Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.

All of this writing and a lot of introspection in the wake of a brain tumor diagnosis led to the publication of her book – Outer Strength, Inner Strength: Weekly Messages for Today’s Woman, a compilation of 52 powerful essays written as personal letters to today’s woman, in which she urges her reader to recognize and use her God-given strengths and skills.

Ginnie lived life passionately and with joy.  She will be remembered by her loved ones as a positive, uplifting and encouraging woman with a great sense of humor, and as a good friend.  She was also a woman of prayer and had been a member of Woodland Presbyterian Church and Tenth Presbyterian Church, both in Philadelphia.  She was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia at the time of her death.

There will be a memorial service at First Presbyterian Church at a date and time to be determined.  Burial will be private.

Donations in memory of Ginnie may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia or to the charity of your choice.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Virginia "Ginnie" (Horle) Mesibov, please visit our floral store.