KILMARNOCK—Yolanda Saladino Lanier, 86, died peacefully on Saturday, August 27, after a lengthy illness. She was a resident of Commonwealth Senior Living in Kilmarnock.
Yolanda was a native of Petersburg. She attended Petersburg High School and was a popular participant in student activities there, graduating in 1953.
In 1955, she married Charles E. Lanier, a World War II veteran and Petersburg neighbor. The couple were members of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Petersburg. They lived in Petersburg and later in Smithfield and Stuarts Draft as Charles’s work required. They had one daughter, Lynn Ann Lanier.
Yolanda was a charter member of The Raleigh Parish Garden Club in Petersburg. She was a talented, award winning designer of floral arrangements and maintained her garden club membership for over 58 years. She was also an occasional oil painter and produced several interesting folk art paintings. Her daughter was a favorite subject, as well as floral scenes.
In the late 1960s, the family built a home in the Shenandoah Valley where they lived for many years. Upon retirement from Hollister Inc., Charles worked part-time for Virginia Metalcrafters in Waynesboro.
In the late 1980s, they built a retirement home on Ivy Creek, in the village of Morattico, near Kilmarnock, in the Northern Neck. There they enjoyed a quiet life, watching from their living room the abundant wildlife visible on and around the creek. Through all the years, they maintained contact with their large family and many friends in Petersburg and always felt that they were “from Petersburg.” They met often for lunch with the men and wives of the POGO, the Petersburg Old Geezers Organization.
Yolanda was predeceased by her parents, Anthony and Blanche Orefice Saladino; her husband, Charles; and all of his eight Lanier siblings.
She is survived by her daughter, Lynn and her husband, Denard Spady, of White Stone and the Eastern Shore; her sister, Jeanette Takesian of Williamsburg and her children, Tom, Yolanda, Paulette and Jane; nieces, Betty Wilson and Fran Hudson; nephew, Homer Lanier; and many other nieces and nephews.
The family would like to thank Phylesha Pollard, and the staff at Commonwealth Senior Living in Kilmarnock, for the care and friendship they provided for Yolanda where she lived happily for five years.
Interment will be private at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg. The family is being served by the Petersburg Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home. Condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com.
