Cynthia Virginia (Tsickritzis) Gosdanian, known to family and friends as Ginny, Virg, Auntie Gigi, Yiayia and Mrs. G., passed away on September 14, 2026, at the age of 85.
Born in Watertown, Massachusetts, on March 27, 1941, she was the daughter of the late Louis Elias and Helen (Geremanis) Tsickritzis. She married Richard Jeffrey Gosdanian, also of Watertown, and they shared 61 years of marriage. Together they raised their sons, Aram and Peter, in Belmont and Falmouth before later living in Waltham.
Virginia was loving, curious, generous, and full of vim and vigor. She spent years working and finding great friendships at MIT Laboratories, Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), and Cisco Systems. She devoted decades to the Women’s Guild at St. James Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown.
Her Greek heritage was central to her life. She cherished her family's roots on the island of Lesvos and held dear her many trips to Greece. She made sure her children and grandchildren knew where they came from and carried that heritage forward.
She loved music, dancing, art, travel, bowling, cards, and family gatherings. She was often the first and last on the dance floor, a fierce competitor at the bowling alley and card table, and, according to family lore, perhaps the only person who could consistently beat the casinos.
In addition to her husband, Jeff, she is survived by her sister, Marsha (Tsickritzis) Leonard and her husband Robert, her brother Peter Tsickritzis and his wife, Ellen; her sons, Aram and his wife Julie (Christianer) of Galena, Ohio, and Peter and his wife Amy (Costello) of Reading, Massachusetts; her six grandchildren, Evan, Abbey, Thanos, Leo, Lila, and Nathaniel, and many cousins, nieces and nephews, all of whom she adored.
Virginia’s journey with memory loss was long and gradually altered the woman her family knew, but it never changed the person they remembered: a fiercely loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend with an unmistakable spirit.
She will be deeply missed and forever remembered by the family she treasured.
A private service will be held.