Hazel Spivey Lankford

Published 11:06 am Tuesday, January 19, 2016

WINDSOR — Hazel Spivey Lankford, 87, was called Home to be with the Lord on Jan. 18, 2016.

Hazel Spivey Lankford

She was the daughter of Floyd Ludlow “Lud” Spivey and Leona Redd Spivey. She was pre-deceased by her parents and two husbands, S. Aubrey Spivey and William E. Lankford. Her brother, Lud Spivey Jr., died as an infant in 1930.

Hazel is survived by two sons and their wives, Lud Lorenzo Spivey and wife, Sandra, and Shelton Spivey and wife, Gail, all of Windsor.

Left to cherish her memory are also four grandchildren, Brandy Robbins (Brian) of Windsor; Clint Spivey (Jenny) of Virginia Beach; Lauren Spivey Levwood (William) of Reading, Massachusetts; and Jonathan Baines Spivey of Brooklyn, New York. She also leaves three great-grandchildren, Gwendolyn Carter Spivey, Eleanor Leona Spivey and Haya Sophia Levwood, as well as a step-daughter, Linda Lou Zacuto of Woodland Hills, California; and step grandsons, Brian and Jeff.

Hazel was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend.

She was a school bus driver for 40 years, in addition to her duties as a wife, mother

and homemaker on the farm.

She was a lifelong member of Colosse Baptist Church, where her great-great-grandmother, Marcilla Watkins Spivey, was sister to John R. Watkins, who founded the church in 1871.

Hazel had countless friends with whom she exchanged remembrances and gifts. She was a Past Worthy Matron of the Franklin Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star No. 128; a member of the American Legion Auxiliary; and former member of the Windsor Homemakers Club. She loved Christmas as her favorite holiday, and many can attest to her yearly decorations and hospitality.

At the age seven in 1936, she won a blue ribbon at the Windsor School Fair for her recitation of a poem titled “My Sister’s Best Boyfriend.” Her mother used to tell the story about how Hazel smeared jam on her face as she performed.

Hazel loved to play Rook with her friends from Colosse. She was an avid fan of baseball on television and, until recently, she seldom missed re-runs of the early years of Billy Graham’s preaching.

She was a devoted wife to two husbands, the best of mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers and will be sorely missed. She faced many trials of illness, but never lost confidence in the Lord who renewed her with ongoing strength and resilience.

Services will be in Colosse Baptist Church at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 22, conducted by the Rev. Tim Webb. Burial will be in Colosse Church Cemetery following the service. The family will afterward receive friends in the Church Fellowship Hall.

The family thanks all those who have been faithful friends in the past and who have created so many wonderful memories for the future. Lastly, her sons and families thank God for the wonderful Light He sent in the person who has gone Home, who while here helped guide them along life’s way.

The family requests that friends make any memorial contributions to the Colosse Baptist Church Perpetual Care Cemetery Fund, 6361 Rhodes Drive, Windsor, VA 23487.

Wright Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

www.wrightfuneralhome.org.