Emily Reel Dingledine

Emily Reel Dingledine, longtime resident of Harrisonburg, passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 21. 2019. She was born on October 31, 1921 in Augusta, Georgia and was the daughter of the late John Bartley Reel and Annie Merritt Reel.

She was the sister of predeceased Anne Reel Dingledine and Sarah Reel Wigington and wife of Raymond Carlyle Dingledine, Jr. for 48 wonderful and loving years.

She is survived by her four children Anne Dingledine Stribling (John Uss) Raymond Carlyle Dingledine, III, (Cindy), Merritt Dingledine Lincoln, and Elizabeth Reel Dingledine. She is survived by six grandchildren, by whom she was known as “Mama Ding”, Raymond Dingledine, IV, Sarah Dingledine, James Lincoln, Patrick Lincoln, Nicholas Lincoln, and Jonathan Stribling-Uss; ten great grandchildren, Raymond Dingledine, V, Talon Dingledine, Kofi Lincoln, Jax Lincoln, Miles Lincoln, Hazel Lincoln, Jonah Lincoln, Samuel Lincoln, Brigid Lincoln, and Evangeline Lincoln.

Emily graduated from Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and was a kindergarten teacher for the Harrisonburg City Schools for 26 years. She was the first woman to be appointed and then elected to the Harrisonburg City Council where she served from 1990-1996 as a member and vice mayor from 1994-1996. Emily was a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church, the Rockingham Memorial Hospital Auxiliary; the JMU Woman’s Club and served on the Parks and Recreation Commission as well as on other service organizations.

A celebration of Emily’s life will be held at Strite Auditorium at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community at 3:00 pm on Friday, May 10, 2019. The family will receive friends from 2:00 pm-3:00 pm before the service.

A special thank you to the dedicated staff at Warsack House for the love and care she has received for the past four years.

In lieu of flowers the family ask for donations to Pleasant View, Inc. PO Box 426, Broadway, Virginia 22815.