Virginia Kip Farrell, 93

Virginia Kip Farrell passed away peacefully on April 2, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. Born on January 28, 1932, Kip spent most of her younger years growing up in Darien, Connecticut, where she enjoyed an active, sports-filled youth. Her mother, a trained classical pianist, had studied under the famed Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and her father was a banker.  She attended New Canaan Country School, and graduated from Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Virginia Kip Farrell

Kip met William Kegg, Jr., a New Canaan boy attending Harvard in 1950 and they were married in 1952. Upon Bill’s graduation from Harvard, he took an exciting position in Paris as a film director, and the new couple started their lives together there. They returned to New Canaan, and Bill attended Harvard Business School before taking a position on Wall Street. They began their family with three children: Gigi Virginia Kip Kegg, William Boyd Kegg III, and Hollis Beaven Kitson Kegg, and lived at times on Brushy Ridge Road, Park Street, and Colonial Court. Bill and Kip then found a “fixer-upper”, a run-down brownstone on East 91^st Street in New York City, and set out to renovate it. They also found their way to the Point O’ Woods summer community on Fire Island and bought a cottage that has become a beloved family summer home over decades.

Tragically, Bill Kegg, Jr., passed away from cancer in 1966 at the age of 39, leaving behind Kip, a young widow with three children. Kip soon remarried and set out to gain working skills to raise her family and complete her college education. She also enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College, where she exercised her artistic abilities in subjects ranging from poetry to cutting and welding steel. She created the “Tilted Arc,” a welded steel structure that stood for many years on Sarah Lawrence’s campus. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1980, graduating in the same class as her daughter Gigi. She also sang in the Canterbury Choir of New York City. She later used her sweet soprano voice to wake her grandchildren up in the mornings for camp at Point O’ Woods.

Kip met Mike Farrell, a partner in Price Waterhouse, at a party in New York in 1982, when both had recently divorced. Seeing each other across the room, there was an instant connection. After five years of courtship, they were married in 1987, adding Mike’s three sons and one grandchild to the combined family. Since their marriage, the family has added ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Sadly, Kip’s son Bill and Mike’s son Scott were taken by cancer.  

Kip and Mike spent much time close to nature in their beloved summer community, Point O’ Woods, where Kip became the first woman member of the Point O’ Woods Volunteer Fire Company. When Mike retired in 1991, the couple moved from Manhattan to New Canaan, where Kip revived old friendships and gained new ones. She enjoyed tennis (often beating even her male counterparts on the court), skiing, and sailing, and they travelled with friends to Turkey, France, Italy, and Greece. Kip’s love of New Canaan led her to photograph many beautiful local scenes, which she displayed in her book, “Thank You, New Canaan,” which is available in Elm Street Bookstore and New Canaan Library.

Growing up horseback riding, Kip had a deep-seated love for old barns, stemming from her childhood memories. She was delighted to see that New Canaan has a wondrous collection of historic barns going back in time to its early settlers. But she was dismayed to see that historic barns were being demolished to make room for new homes and expand existing homes.

First, she campaigned vigorously for changes in New Canaan’s zoning rules to enable the preservation of historic structures, and for the adoption of a demolition delay ordinance. Her activity– and her “I ♥ BARNS” license plate– earned her local recognition as “The Barn Lady.” Next, she embarked on the huge project of finding, identifying, and photographing all of New Canaan’s barns, and preserving whatever information could be found about them.

Kip travelled all 348 roads, ridges, streets, and lanes of New Canaan, covering all 23 square miles. Her grandchildren recall riding in the back seat of the station wagon with juice boxes and pretzels, on the lookout for barns, ready to shout “Barn, Baba, Barn!” She kept plenty of dog treats in her pockets for any dogs she met during photo excursions through brush and over stone walls. She carefully catalogued volumes of barn photos and plotted their locations on a map of New Canaan, taking every opportunity to talk with barn owners to record history, stories, and anecdotes. Channel 12 News interviewed Kip as New Canaan’s “Hometown Hero” for her advocacy in protecting its historic barns.

To honor Kip’s memory, her family is preserving her barn research as an historical resource to ensure its accessibility for archival stewardship and community education.

Kip’s contagious and exuberant energy made life fun and exciting wherever she went. She was a life force and a beautiful person who possessed a deep generosity of spirit.

Most of all, Kip’s greatest joy was her family; they were the center of her happiness. Her love, strength, and devotion built a deep foundation of wonderful experiences and lovely memories together. Her vibrant spirit lives on in the hearts of her family, friends, and the communities that she cherished deeply.

Kip is survived by her husband, John Michael Farrell of New Canaan, her sister, Laurie MacDonald Griff of Portland, Oregon, her daughters Gigi Virginia Kip Guthrie of South Salem, and Hollis Beaven Kitson Kegg of New York City, and her stepsons Gregory Dunn Farrell of New Providence, New Jersey, and Douglas Allen Farrell of Antrim, New Hampshire, and 11 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan, 178 Oenoke Ridge, at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 17.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Waveny LifeCare Network, 3 Farm Road, New Canaan, CT 06840.