On Friday, May 3, 2024, Anne Stancil Belt, 84, passed away at Riverside Hospital following a brief illness, with her two children by her side.  A Newport News native, Helen Anne Stancil, was born on April 9, 1940, to the late Linwood Waddell Stancil and Helen McPhail (Herring) Stancil. From 1994 to 2022, Anne made her home in Carrollton with her late husband, Paul M. Belt, Jr, whom she married in September 1991.  Anne and Paul enjoyed their home on Rollingwood Drive, their loving neighbors, and the small-town feel of the Carrollton community, which she often referred to as “God’s Country.”  Anne was residing at Colonial Harbor in Yorktown at the time of her death.

Raised in her beloved Hilton Village community, Anne attended Hilton Elementary School and graduated from Warwick High School in 1958.  She was a student at Longwood College before marrying the late Granville C. “Heavy” Hall in 1959 and residing in the Stuart Gardens neighborhood in Newport News.  Their daughter, Diane Elizabeth (Hall) Fulton, was born in October 1959, followed by their son, Granville Todd Hall, in August 1962.  Anne and Granville’s time in Stuart Gardens produced cherished lifelong friendships with many other young couples residing there and their children.  In 1963, the Halls built a home in the then-developing Denbigh section of Newport News on Dabney Drive.  That remained Anne’s home until she and Granville separated in 1978.

While raising their children, Anne followed in her mother’s footsteps, teaching kindergarten at Trinity Lutheran Day School and later at Hidenwood Presbyterian before joining Newport News Public Schools as a kindergarten teacher’s assistant at Palmer Elementary School.  In 1978, she began a long career with the Newport News court system, retiring in 2002 as a Deputy Clerk in the Civil Division.

As a child growing up in Hilton, Mom nurtured a passion for the water and spent as much time as possible on the James River, in a skiff or crabbing from the Hilton Pier behind the elementary school or off Red’s Pier.  And begging her older brother Bill to take her sailing with him.  She was a young tomboy who matured into a cheerleader for the WHS Farmers and, at 5’ 9 ½ “, enjoyed local modeling stints for Nachman’s and other area department stores.

Mom was a beach-lover and a sun-worshipper at her very core – she cherished vacations and weekends spent on the Outer Banks, and, later, trips to the Bahamas and Mexico. She had a flair for decorating her home and was an equally sharp dresser – she looked great in a suit, always impeccably stylish, casting a striking figure when she entered a room. And she knew it.

She was a talented writer, participating in creative contests in the local paper, and she loved to read, especially romantic thrillers and historical novels.  Mom was handy around the house and enjoyed painting, wallpapering, refinishing furniture, gardening, and DIY projects. She loved to mow the lawn and weed-eat while she was able and was on a ladder cleaning out her gutters at 80.  

But anyone who knew her was clear about one thing:  Mom loved dogs with all her heart. She and Paul adopted their first two black labs, Brandy and Starr, shortly after moving to Carrollton, and that kicked off a love affair with dogs that she nurtured her soul until she left this earth.  Brandy and Starr crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2008, and following a debilitating stroke in September 2009, Paul passed away on Christmas Eve that same year. As Mom adjusted to the loss of her devoted life partner and her beloved pets, and as her own health began to decline, she took great comfort in her canine companions over the years to come – Roxy and Tres, and later, Leo and Koko.  After several health challenges, it came time in late 2022 for Mom to leave her Carrollton home and transition to a senior living community.  Leo and Koko were not able to join her there, and she was heartbroken at the loss of their constant companionship.  They were soon adopted out together from the Peninsula SPCA by a young family, which gave her great comfort, but she continued to miss them terribly until the day she died.  The absence of her dogs’ love, attention, and companionship, combined with her declining health and the loss of the independence she treasured when she was healthy and living in her home in Carrollton, made the last 18 months of Mom’s life a difficult challenge for her.  

But on the afternoon of Friday, May 3, 2024, she let go of her pain and sadness and suffering to the welcome relief of grace and peace.  And before she left us, we told her how much we loved her and encouraged her to go find Paul and run with Brandy and Starr and Roxy and Tres – and the thought of these brought a smile to her face, a gift for us to see her happy in her embrace of that new life ahead.

In addition to her parents and her husband Paul, Mom was preceded in death by her brother, Linwood Waddell Stancil, Jr., her great-granddaughter, Grace Katherine Davenport, and former spouses, Granville Hall and Clarence Williams.  She is survived by her two children, Diane (Wayne Carper) and Todd (Sarah McKenzie); grandchildren, Katherine (“Katie”) Davenport (Jake), Melissa Hall (Ray Salem), Sean-Michael Wilkinson, Agatha Pilola (Michael), Christina Hall, Lyndsey Hall, and Gabrielle Hall; and nine great-grandchildren, Aleena-Layton, Elizabeth, Emma, Amirrah-Leigh, Van, Curtis, Beaux, John, and Malik. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Jan Stancil, and her nephew, William Stancil, as well as numerous loving and supportive friends.

The family will receive friends and loved ones on Monday, May 13, 2024, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Peninsula Funeral Home.  A memorial service will follow at 6:30 p.m. in the chapel led by the Rev. Carleton Bakkum.

In lieu of flowers, the family (and Anne) request that you honor her memory and her love of animals with a contribution to the Peninsula SPCA, the Animal Aid Society in Hampton, the Isle of Wight Animal Shelter, Best Friends Animal Society, or your local animal shelter. 

Arrangements are under the care of Peninsula Funeral Home.