Charlotte Fleming Jones Easterling

Charlotte “Cholly” Jones Easterling, 90, passed away gracefully and peacefully on June 16, 2019. A North Carolina native, she moved to Hopewell with her husband Dr. John G. Easterling (deceased) in 1955. Together they reared two daughters, Kathy Easterling Vosburgh (Los Angeles) and Ann C. Easterling (Hopewell). She was preceded in death by her parents Florence Fleming Jones and Fenton Ellis Jones of Weldon, North Carolina. She is survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, and loving friends. A graduate of University of North Carolina Greensboro, Cholly was active in her community. She was a founding member of the Appomattox Garden Club (past president for three terms; secretary for 45 years), Historic Hopewell Foundation and the Hopewell/Prince George Friends of the Library. She also held several offices in her many years in the Hopewell Junior Woman’s Club and the Woman’s Club of Hopewell. She received Honorary Life Memberships in those organizations. In addition, she was a member of the Hopewell Medical Auxiliary, Reading Is Fundamental, and the Appomattox Regional Library Book Club. She volunteered with the March of Dimes, Hopewell Blood Mobile, Community Action Program for Reading in the Hopewell School System, and Book Buddies. She taught Sunday school at the First United Methodist Church. In 1976, she was named Hopewell’s Distinguished Woman of the Year and in 1983, she co-authored “Old City Point and Hopewell: The First 370 Years”. Always a patron and lover of the arts, she was a founding member of the James River Ball Patrons Committee to raise funds for the Young People’s Concert Series and arts programs in Hopewell Schools. She co-produced four community musicals sponsored by the Woman’s Club of Hopewell: “Music Man” (1968), “Carnival” (1970), “Anything Goes” (1975), and “Show Boat” (1980). She was a charter member of the Lucy Corr Foundation Arts Committee (Chesterfield), volunteered with the Theater Workshop for Young Artists, Thelma Olaker Youth Civic Ballet, and the Theater Company at Fort Lee. Her love of painting was reignited in 1960 when she studied oils, watercolor and charcoal with Dorothy Bowie. She studied with nationally known watercolor artists in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maine, and New Mexico. She was a member of The Tuesday Group watercolor artists and presented one-woman shows at the Petersburg Area Art League, Theatre IV, Lee Playhouse, and Lucy Corr Village. She participated in shows at the James Center (Richmond), and specialized in commissioned watercolors of homes, pets and historic sites. Prints of her John Randolph Hospital-commissioned painting of St. John’s Episcopal Church hang in hundreds of homes and businesses throughout the community. Three of her paintings were selected by the Virginia Watercolor Society for touring exhibitions, making her an Artist Member of the VWS. Her “Apple Blossom” won the VWS Don Mundt Memorial Award for Excellence in the Traditional Manner. A visitation will be held Friday, June 21, from 6 to 8 p.m., and a celebration of life will take place on Saturday, June 22, at 2:00 p.m. at the Hopewell Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the Appomattox Regional Library Endowed Fund at the John Randolph Foundation, P.O. Box 1606, Hopewell, VA 23860 or The Illuminated Stage Theatre Company, P.O. Box 294, Hopewell, VA 23860. The family is grateful for the love and support of Cholly’s many friends and caregivers, especially Doris Saunders and Mary Freeman-Frazier, whose tenderness eased our mother’s last days. Condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com