Virginia Gail Arnold, 85, passed away on Thursday, November 13, 2025, at the Suwannee Valley Care Center in Lake City, FL., following a brief illness. She is the daughter of the late Luther and Virginia Deese. She was raised by her grandparents, JC and Pauline “Muddie” Whitten. She has made Lake City her home for the past sixty years and was a member of Southside Baptist Church. She was the first in her family to attend and complete college at Georgia Southern College, earning her bachelor’s degree in education in 1961. She taught school in Albany, GA., and Cheyenne, WY, before coming to Columbia County, where she taught school from 1968-2001.
Ms. Arnold is survived by her three children, John Hadley, Pamela Belk (Jay), and Sherri Lee (Joe). She had seven grandchildren, Tim Larramore (Laura), Ashley Criminger (Tony), Chris Hadley (Kristen), James Belk (Caroline), Bruce Belk (Kat), Hadley Belk Bryant (Layton), and Allen Lee, and nine great-grandchildren.
A graveside funeral service will be held on Monday, November 17, 2025, at 2:00 P.M. at Evergreen Cemetery in Fitzgerald, Georgia, with Tommy Whitten officiating. Interment will immediately follow the graveside service.