Virginia Ross Riley

Durham, NC – Virginia (Ginger) Ross Riley, age 68, died at home in her sleep on March 17, 2025.

Ginger was born on October 25, 1956, the fourth of five born into the family of Homer and Martha Riley. She was named after her mother’s oldest sibling, Virginia Ross. She grew up on Indian Trail across the street from Hillandale Golf Course, attended Hillandale Elementary School, Carrington Jr. High, and Northern Durham Senior High School. She was a beautiful child with bright blue eyes, long straight blonde hair, and a picture-perfect smile. She was also a child clothing model and a debutante.

At a young age, Ginger found her love for horses. She began taking horseback riding lessons in her early teens and continued to grow her interest into a passion throughout high school. She competed in equestrian events, including dressage and show jumping. With her horse, Lady, she enrolled in Southern Seminary Junior College, a nationally recognized competitor in intercollegiate riding. She often joked that her horse was accepted into school before her.

She and Lady received their 2-year degree and eventually began working for the Hill family at Quail Roost, managing the stables and giving riding instructions. For that, she earned Lady’s room and board.

There, she got involved in fox-hunting with all the fanfare of bugles, the baying of the hounds on the hunt, and the pomp and circumstance of riders dressed in red tails, jodhpurs, leather boots, and black riding caps. She loved every minute of it all.

Ginger was married twice, first to her high school sweetheart, LeGrande Anderson, of Rougemont. He became a constant presence around 2600 Indian Trail, and by 1977, they figured it was time to stop dating and marry, which they did in May 1978.

Eventually, they moved into one of the old sharecropper homes on the Quail Roost property while Ginger continued her employment there. Her job for the Hill family was all-consuming and often required her to drive a pickup truck towing a trailer loaded with horses to shows and hunts across North and South Carolina and Virginia. She knew the life of long days and late nights of a stable hand: the calloused hands, sore back, and horse bites. She found her joy sitting high in the saddle, whether working on precision in the riding arena or chasing the hounds across the open fields.

It was also during this period that she became acquainted with Jack Russell terriers, a spirited, energetic dog bred specifically for fox hunting. After Ginger got her first female, many of the resulting puppies found their way into the hearts and homes of family and friends.

After Ginger and LeGrande’s divorce, she drove a truck for Nello L. Teer Company at its Durham quarry when she met and later married Tim Hansen. Tim also worked for Teer as a mechanic superintendent. In late 1987, she gave birth to her only child, Timothy Lyle Hansen, Junior.

Her husband’s work took the family to Panama for a few years. She wrote home through eyes of wonder as she set up a house in a foreign country. Although lonely from being so far from family, she soaked in the richness and color of the people and culture. She also came home with a new friend, a red Panamanian parrot that they named Wolfpack.

Tim and Ginger divorced, and Tim Sr. took full custody of Tim Jr. and moved back to Minnesota. This was a difficult time in Ginger's life, the loss of custody to her son haunted her. She was reunited with Tim Jr. in 2015, and they reformed a lasting relationship.

After her divorce, Ginger started a new chapter. She set her sights on getting a degree in cosmetology and enrolled in a school in Charlotte where her sister, Marti, and partner, Susan, lived. They supported her dream and helped her get back on her feet. "

After a few years in Charlotte, Ginger returned to Durham. She and her dad formed a business partnership, leasing the space in the middle of Bahama, NC. They hung up their shingle and called it, “Bahama Cuts.”

They moved the shop once they found a 100-year-old home on Roxboro Road that felt like the perfect place. It was visible from the busy four-lane highway and was already set up with a beauty salon in the back. Her parents bought the property, and she moved in. With pride, she turned on the lights to her roadside sign and opened the door for business. She cut and colored men's and women’s hair there for over two decades, meeting new customers and making friends.

Ginger was smart, curious, engaging, and a spirited conversationalist. Many would describe her as hot-tempered with a big heart and a constant laugh, often directed at herself. 

Among her friends in the Rougemont community, she was known to help others in need and to be generous with what she had. Her friends and family will miss her.

Ginger was predeceased by her parents, Homer and Martha Riley.

She is survived by her son, Timothy Lyle Hansen, Jr., his wife Brenda, and their daughters Freya and Anya; her sister Marti McCracken and her wife Susan Turner; three brothers, Lin and his wife Sylvia, Steve and his wife Julie, and Page and his wife, Maggie. She was proud of her nieces and nephews, Kelly, Claire, Clark, Blair, Peyton, and Russell, along with the next generation of Rileys: Keiko, Rhea, Manu, Hazel, and Celia.

She is also survived by her beloved Wolfpack.

The family is planning a private service.

The Riley family is under the care of Hall-Wynne Funeral Service. Online condolences: www.hallwynne.com – select obituaries.