Sussex County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Birdsong, Dorothy Lanier, 2001 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ DOROTHY LANIER BIRDSONG Mrs. Dorothy Lanier Birdsong, age 103, a resident of Wakefield, died Wednesday, August 22, 2001 at Southside Regional Medical Center, Petersburg. Born in Sussex County on Sept. 13, 1897, she was the daughter of the late John Robin Lanier and Durley Laine Lanier. She was a lifelong member of Barrett’s Congregational Christian Church near Wakefield and was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great- grandmother and great-great-grandmother. She was a proud and dedicated farmer’s wife and enjoyed living to see five generations of her family. She was the wife of the late John Cleveland Birdsong and mother of the late son John Thomas Birdsong and late daughter Van Birdsong Drewry. She is survived by eight grandchildren; Wayne Birdsong and his wife, Evelyn of Wakefield, Nancy Greene and her husband, Michael of Portsmouth; Roger Birdsong and his wife Barbara of Henderson, N.C., Bernice Turner and her husband, Bob of Portsmouth; Janet Treadwell and her husband Art of Jacksonville, Fl.; Judy Brooks and her husband the late Larry Brooks of Portsmouth; William Drewry and his wife Marcie of Wakefield and Velma Bland and her husband Johnny of Portsmouth; 18 great-grandchildren; 11 great-great-grandchildren; a daughter- in-law, Mildred Birdsong of Portsmouth; two sister-in-laws, Catherine Lanier and Lucille Lanier both of Wakefield; and numerous nieces and nephews. A funeral service was held on Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. in Wakefield Baptist Church by the Rev. James H. Kerr. Burial was in Wakefield Cemetery. The family received friends at Purviance Funeral Home, Wakefield on Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. and at other times at the residence of Wayne and Evelyn Birdsong in Wakefield. Memorial donations may be made to the Wakefield Baptist Church. P.O. Box 567, Wakefield, VA 23888. Dorothy (LANIER; Mrs. John C.) BIRDSONG, of Wakefield, b. 13 Sep 1897, Sussex Co., d. 22 Aug 2001, Petersburg, interred in Wakefield Cemetery**, 25 Aug 2001, Purviance Funeral Home obit *Wakefield list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/cemeteries/wakefd.txt Her husband's obit ("Tidewater News," Mar. 21, 1957, I-7) is posted at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/obits/b632j27o.txt Her parents were buried in a family cemetery, in Sussex Co. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), and re-formatted by File Manager. file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/sussex/obits/b632d2ob.txt