Bernice Evylee Sandridge Raines, 91, of Crozet, Virginia, passed away on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charlie James and Eula Mae (Wyant) Sandridge; one brother, Charlie (Jacqualyn) Sandridge; two sisters, Mary (Preston) Kohn; Catherine (William) Gibson; and her loving husband of 65 years, Carl “Junior” Raines.
Born in Albemarle County, Bernice was a loving wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother and great-grandmother. She is survived by three brothers, Joseph (Alice) Sandridge of Spotsylvania, Thomas (Lois) Sandridge of Crozet, Eugene (Chrissy) Sandridge of Crozet and one sister Rachel (Larry) Beavers of Ikes Fork, W.Va.; two sons Carl “Skeeter” (Linda) Raines of Charlottesville and Allen Page “Nat” (Diane) Raines of Crozet. She had three grandchildren, Deanna (Brad) Graves of Crozet, Kelly Raines Sullivan of Zion Crossroads, and Jason (Bridgett) Raines of Stanardsville; six great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Kolten, Aiden, Owen, Evan, and Layne, numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.
Born on September 22, 1930, Bernice was the second eldest of eight children and she helped raise her younger siblings. Bernice and her husband, Junior, made White Hall their home. Most of it was spent on Batna Farm where she raised her two sons. She was proud of both her sons and when she would talk about them you could hear the love she had for each one. After Junior retired from Batna, they built a house on home property off of Sugar Hollow Road in White Hall.
She was a homemaker and a farmer’s wife. She worked with her husband planting huge vegetable gardens every year. They would spend countless hours perfecting their gardens. She would can and freeze what they needed and would share the rest with family and neighbors. Bernice did part-time jobs cleaning houses as well as helped Junior with yardwork and sell firewood.
She had the ability to remember everyone’s birthdays and anniversary. When visiting with Bernice she would get a little smirk on her face and say, “someone has a birthday coming up!” She loved having visitors stop by to chat.
She loved to collect pictures and clippings from newspapers. She would try and challenge herself with the puzzles in the newspapers and loved word searches. Each school year she looked forward to the gift of pictures received from her grandkids, great grandkids, nieces and nephews. She would proudly show them off the next time someone came to visit. She had boxes of pictures from events, reunions, family and friends.
She had a special love for family. She adored her brothers and sisters.
Later in life, you would often find her and Junior sitting on their porch in the afternoon, admiring the countryside.
A graveside service was held on March 26 at the Sandridge Cemetery in White Hall, with the Rev. Samuel Plymale officiating.
