Lenita Rose Reale, beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, as well as teacher to legions in Gilmer County, departed this life on August 6, 2015 at the age of 92. Born on January 1, 1923 in Frenchton, West Virginia, she will be reunited with her parents, A.G. and Eula Harris Casto and her late husband, Patrick V. Reale, each of whom preceded her in death.
She was a public school teacher in the Gilmer County School System for nearly 40 years, serving students in one room schools in various locations in the county and later in elementary schools at Gilmer, Lynch Run, Rosedale, Sand Fork, Cedarville, Glenville and Tanner. Her students were her extended family, many of which provided her well wishes in her final days. It was clear she touched the lives of many in a positive and loving way that was not forgotten.
She was active in many local organizations including her church, Trinity United Methodist Church of Glenville, Glenville Women’s Club, Gilmer County Association of Retired School Employees, Gilmer County Senior Citizens, Order of the Eastern Star, Rebecca’s, Gilmer County Public Library and her “Book Club” friends, the Red Hat Society, Sand Fork School Alumni Association, Glenville State College Alumni Association, Gilmer County Democratic Women’s Club and the West Virginia State Folk Festival, which honored her in 1998 as being a festival belle from Gilmer County.
She was a treasure trove of Gilmer County history and was part of Dr. Patrick Gainer’s inaugural experience with the West Virginia State Folk Festival. She was a member of his first WV Folklore Class at Glenville State College and the launching of what we now know as the West Virginia State Folk Festival. She delighted in sharing stories of her youth, growing up in what, at the time, was a thriving Gilmer Station where her father was the stationmaster at the local train depot. With several coal mines in the area and the rail station being the primary location for shipping and receiving goods and materials to and from the Gilmer County and Glenville area prior to the development of paved roads, there was much to tell about life in and around Gilmer Station. Her stories of real life experiences were indeed captivating.
Lenita had many special friends throughout the local community who gave her help and assistance in so many kind and loving ways during the later years of her life. She felt truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and worried that she had not sufficiently thanked each.
She is survived by her sister, Mary C. Davis (formerly of Glenville and Weston, WV and now of Winston-Salem, NC), four children, daughters Vicki Glass (Dallas, Texas), Susan Chapman (Glenville, WV), Mary Roseann Thompson (Elkview, WV), and son, Philip Reale (Charleston, WV); nine grandchildren, Andy Glass (Dallas, TX), Kelly Holland (Denton, TX), Keith Glass (San Antonio, TX), Devon Chapman (Albuquerque, NM), Brett Chapman (Glenville, WV), Lyndsey Thompson and Jonathan Thompson (Elkview, WV), Philip Reale, II (South Charleston, WV) and Anthony Reale (Charleston, WV). She also has eight great grandchildren.
The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, the kind act of charitable contributions to the Gilmer County Public Library be extended.
Funeral Services will be conducted at the Ellyson Mortuary Inc., 2 Vanhorn Drive, Glenville, WV; 26351 at 11:00 a.m., Monday, August 10, 2015 with Rev. Mark James officiating. Burial will follow in the Meadow Lane Cemetery on WV Highway 5 West. Friends will be received from 5-8 p.m. Sunday evening at the mortuary.
Ellyson Mortuary Inc. is honored to assist the family of Lenita R. Reale with arrangements.
