Virginia Louise Yafrate

Virginia “Gini” Louise (Waring) Yafrate, 76, of East Bridgewater, passed away on Friday, December 27, 2019, at Brockton Hospital after a brief illness. She was the wife of the late Daniel Fischbach. Born on March 30, 1943 in Fall River, she was the daughter of the late Francis J. Waring and Louise (Martin) Waring. Gini received her bachelor’s degree from Stonehill College and her master’s plus from Bridgewater State University. For over 30 years, Gini was an English teacher in Brockton and Taunton before retiring. She was very loved by her students and went above and beyond for them. She created the “Presidents Project” and a student job fair that encouraged her students to ‘dress for success’ for which she received great recognition. She ran a ski club for 10 years and organized multiple school trips to places such as New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as international trips to Italy, London, and Spain. Gini also won the Kennedy Award for teaching. In addition to her love of being a teacher, Gini was on the board of the Brockton Day Nursery in the 1980s, and she loved the Girl Scouts and was a part of it for her entire childhood. She also served for 10 years on the board of the Brockton Symphony. When she retired, she volunteered delivering meals for Meals on Wheels, and was involved in the Council on Aging in East Bridgewater. Her grandchildren, Hannah and Ryan, were the light of her life. She gave them the love of music that they have today by providing them with music lessons when they were both young. One of her very favorite things was to listen to them play piano. She was so proud of them both and happily attended every performance she possibly could. Additionally, Gini loved Standard Poodles and had many throughout her lifetime. Gini is survived by her son, Michael Yafrate and his wife Kristen of East Bridgewater; her grandchildren, Hannah and Ryan Yafrate; her step-children, Heidi Frail and her husband Stephen of Needham, and their children, Max and Leo and Steve Fischbach and his wife Jennifer of Deep River, CT., and his children Jackson and Jade Fischbach; her brother Rick Waring and his wife Colette of Westminster and their children, Keith Waring and his wife Karen and Heidi Williams and her husband Jeff; and many cousins who she loved dearly and couldn’t wait until Christmas Eve for their annual get together. She is also survived by many, many friends, most notably by the “OM” group. Funeral services will be held in the Russell & Pica Funeral Home, 441 South Main St., (Rt28) West Bridgewater on Saturday, January 4th at 10:00AM. Interment will follow in Melrose Cemetery, Brockton. Calling hours in the funeral home on Friday from 3:00-7:00PM. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research; michaeljfox.org