Virginia “Ginger” Soper Smith ’73

Lawyer and Cornell College trustee Virginia “Ginger” Soper Smith ’73 died on March 15, 2015, in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was 64.

Smith was born in Indianapolis and earned her degree in English. She married Douglas Smith ’73, her college sweetheart, after graduation.

Smith earned her MBA from Indiana University in 1981, and shortly thereafter the couple moved to Utah. She went on to earn a law degree from the University of Utah in 1984.

She enjoyed a long career at several prominent banks in the Salt Lake Valley, most recently as the head of the legal services department at Zions Bancorporation. She was also deeply involved with her community. As a member of First United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City,  she sang in the choir, chaired numerous committees, and helped raise money to restore the church’s historic pipe organ. She also served on the Cornell College Board of Trustees, and on the advisory board for the college’s Center for Law and Society.

In addition to her work and her community service, Smith was an avid traveler and traveled around the world with her husband.

Smith was a member of a Cornell dynasty. Her great-great-grandfather, John Francis Cory, gave the money to install the Seth Thomas clock in the King Chapel clocktower. Her great-grandfather, E.B. Soper, class of 1868, served as chair of the Board of Trustees, and 15 of his 16 great-grandchildren, including Smith, attended Cornell.

She is survived by her father, husband, sons Andrew ’08 and Hunter, one granddaughter, and siblings, including Elizabeth Soper ’71.