Virginia Smith Burnett Jordan
Southampton native Virginia Smith Burnett Jordan died on June 7 in England after a stroke. She was 78.
Born May 21, 1932, in Southampton, she was the daughter of former village police chief Leland “Buck” Jennings Burnett and Lois Benedict Smith, who was the daughter of a former village mayor.
She was raised in the family home at 296 Hampton Road in Southampton. Upon graduation from Southampton High School, she attended Smith College and graduated in 1954 with a degree in political science. She then undertook postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics in London. Crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, she met Cambridge engineering graduate Geoffrey Jordan, whom she married in 1955.
Following her husband’s military service in the Royal Navy, the couple returned to Southampton in 1958. Family recalled that her husband often commented that practically everyone on the East End of Long Island seemed to be a relative of some sort. The couple lived for several years in York, Pennsylvania, Massapequa, and then Syracuse before returning to the United Kingdom in 1962.
A huge supporter of her husband’s business career, she continued her peripatetic life, living in England until 1970, then in Australia until 1992, and then back to England. Although she lived most of her life outside of the United States, her Southampton home was always in her heart, survivors said.
In addition to her husband of 55 years, Geoffrey Jordan, she is survived by a daughter, Juliet Jordan of Sydney, Australia; a son, Michael Jordan of England; a granddaughter, Genevieve; and two grandsons, Matthew and Alexander.
on Aug 25, 2010