Carol Barrett Lea
Carol Barrett Lea, age 88, of Danville, Virginia, passed away peacefully at her home on Friday, August 14, 2026, after a brief illness. Carol was born December 16, 1937, in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to the late Augustine Edward Barrett and the late Alice Brodie Barrett. She was preceded in death by her devoted husband of fifty-four years, Stanley D. Lea. Carol is survived by her three children: Stanley Darrell Lea, Jr. (Julie), of Greensboro, North Carolina; Glen Andrew Lea (Pauline) of Glen Allen, Virginia; and Susan Alison Lea, of Danville. Carol is also survived by her beloved granddaughters, Caroline and Mary Margaret Lea.
Carol has two surviving siblings, Jean Barrett Holland of Denver, Colorado, and Joan Barrett O’Brien of Andover, Massachusetts. She was preceded in death by her brother, Robert Barrett.
Carol graduated from Haverhill High School in 1955. She worked briefly at Western Electric in Massachusetts before marrying Stan and moving with him to Norfolk, Virginia, in 1961. Carol and Stan moved their young family to Danville in 1967 and made their home there.
Carol began working as a cashier in the cafeteria at George Washington High School in 1978 and worked there until her retirement thirty years later. She cherished the relationships she formed with the students, faculty, administration, and her co-workers.
Carol began volunteering at God’s Storehouse in the 1990s and continued until she began experiencing health challenges earlier this year. She was honored as the organization’s Volunteer of the Year in 2024. The clients, staff, and her fellow volunteers meant the world to her.
Carol loved spending time at Smith Mountain Lake with family and friends. Late afternoons at the lake would find her luxuriating on her inflatable float in her favorite cove chatting with her lake neighbors. Carol was also an avid collector of Hallmark Christmas ornaments and loved nothing more than decorating her house for changes of season and annual holidays.
During her golden years, Carol joined the Red Hat Society and was active with two Danville-area chapters: the Sassy Silver Foxes, in which she achieved the rank of Queen, and the Older Wiser Laughing Sisters (OWLS), where she served as Vice Queen. She loved dressing up in her purple outfits and red hats to attend functions throughout the Southeast with her Red Hat sisters.
Carol was honest, direct, uncompromising, playful, hilarious, and fiercely loyal. She made an impression on everyone she ever met and left folks with little—if any—doubt about where they stood with her.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, August 21, 2026, at 2 p.m. at Norris Funeral Home’s Mt. Hermon Chapel, 3995 Franklin Turnpike, Danville, Virginia 24540. The family will receive friends directly after the service at Norris’s Mt. Hermon Chapel. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to God’s Storehouse (godsstorehouse.com).
