After a courageous fight with pancreatic cancer, Ginger Rundberg (Virginia Louise, formerly Newby), resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed peacefully in her home late in the afternoon on Sunday, January 13th 2019 at the age of 62.
She was born on January 20th, 1956, in Idaho Falls Idaho, and was the youngest of five children born to Marvon Newby Sr. and Clara (Knutson) Newby. She grew up in Ririe Idaho on a farm along the Snake River, and attended College at Idaho State University, earning a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry in 1979. She married Robert Sven Rundberg on June 7th, 1980 after meeting him while working at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Together they enjoyed hiking, camping and exploring the outdoors, and piloting their small Cessna 182 airplane around the American West.
She raised her three children in White Rock, New Mexico where she was a committed gardener, was an active teacher in Community Bible Study, and joined local missions. She returned to school and became a registered nurse in 2009, working at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Santa Fe and later at the Endoscopy Center of Los Alamos Medical Center. She committed herself to good work in the world through missions to Thailand combating human trafficking, Juarez Mexico building homes, Haiti providing medications after the earthquake, and most recently to Colombia and Bolivia delivering healthcare services to populations in need.
Ginger is lovingly remembered for her adventurousness, her sense of humor, and her unwavering Christian faith. She is preceded in death by her parents, Marvon Newby (d.1987) and Clara Knutson Newby (d.2015). She is survived by her husband of 38 years, Robert Sven Rundberg, their three children Mrs. Julina Rundberg(Greg) Kanarian of Boston MA, John Eric Rundberg of Socorro NM, and Annika Michelle Rundberg of Burlington VT. She is also survived by her four siblings, Marvon(Fonda)Newby, Mrs. Vera(Bruce) Anderson, Vernon(Kristine) Newby, and George(Tennessee) Newby.
A Memorial Service honoring Ginger will be held at Christ Church Santa Fe, 1213 Don Gaspar Ave, Santa Fe, NM 87505, at 2pm on Sunday January 27th, 2019. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those who wish to honor Ginger make donations to Medical Ministry International, the organization that sponsored many of her medical mission trips, or to The Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.