Lois Mengel

Lois Scott Mengel, 84, of Danville, departed this earth in the company of loved ones at her vacation home in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, on June 5, 2013, after a lengthy illness. She was preceded in death by her husband of sixty years, Paul W. Mengel, Jr. and a sister, Ann Farrar Willett of Lexington, Va. Mrs. Mengel was the daughter of the late Lois Hickson Scott and Kirkwood Duval Scott of Lynchburg, Virginia, where she was born on April 28, 1929. She was a graduate of E.C.Glass High School in Lynchburg, attended Converse College and graduated from Randolph-Macon Women's College in 1950, where she studied the classics and music. Upon settling in Danville, where Mr. Mengel enjoyed a successful career in the tobacco business, Mrs. Mengel's devotion to her family was accompanied by a lifelong interest in the arts and gardening, which led to her involvement in numerous local and statewide organizations. Mrs. Mengel was an active supporter and member of the Shakespeare Study Club, The Wednesday Club, The Garden Club of Virginia, The Gabriella Garden Club, the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, the Danville Golf Club and the First Presbyterian Church. An avid gardener, Mrs. Mengel's garden was for several years featured on the Danville tour of homes and gardens during Historic Garden Week. Her horticultural talents were recognized by the Garden Club of Virginia by her appointment as Chair of its Restoration Committee from 1994-1996. Among the projects undertaken during Mrs. Mengel's tenure of which she was most proud was the restoration of the gardens at historic Kenmore Plantation in Fredericksburg. A recipient of the Garden Club of Virginia's Horticultural Award of Merit, she also served as a Director at Large and Chair of its Admissions Committee. The Gabriella Garden Club of Danville recognized her over five decades of service and contributions with an honorary membership in 2009, citing her service as its President as well as President of the Danville Council of Garden Clubs, and her receipt of the Bernice Sheppard Heard Award of Merit, the Ethel Adams Roediger Horticulture Award and the Florence Slate Lee Arrangement Award. Mrs. Mengel is survived by her adoring children and grandchildren, daughter Lois Scott Mengel and grandsons Jarret Warren Wood and Cullen Duval Wood of Falls Church, Va., son Paul W. Mengel III and grandson Adin Scott Mengel and granddaughter Helen Marietta Mengel of Alexandria, Va. and son Kirkwood Scott Mengel and his partner Tammy Dunmire of Sunset Beach, N.C. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that mourners consider a donation to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America or the Lower Cape Fear Hospice and Lifecare Center. Graveside funeral services will be held at Green Hill Cemetery on Friday, June 21, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. and a reception will immediately follow the service at Lawson-Overbey Inn, 782 Main Street, Danville. Townes Funeral Home and Crematory, 215 West Main Street, is serving the Mengel family.