Obituary of Lois Barnes Rice

To view the live webcast, please click HERE  or use the following link: http://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/32597

On Sunday, July 5, 2020, Lois Barbara Barnes Rice, beloved wife of Charles F. Rice, Jr., died at the age of 97 after a year of struggle with coronary artery disease.  She was a loving mother to three children: Cynthia Rice Elliott (Doug), Charles F. Rice III (Sandy), Kenneth E. Rice.  She was blessed with three grandchildren:  Rebecca M. Rice, Alexander C. Rice (Rahab) and Carolyn Rice, and four great grandchildren Caecilia A. Rice, Thomas W. Rice, Charles F. Rice, and a great-grandson (yet to be named) arriving mid-fall.  Lois Rice had a great life.  She was happily married for 67 years to Charlie, who predeceased her by two years.  Born in Ohio, and with the exception of a several year interlude in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Lois spent most of her youth growing up with her three brothers (Philip, Raymond and Everett) in Silver Spring, Maryland, at a time when the roads there were unpaved, and Silver Spring was a removed, quaint little backwater far removed from the relative bustle of DC.   Of her siblings, she is survived by her brother Everett (Joan) and sister in law Vivian (Philip) who is an incredible 102.  Lois graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD.  Prior to becoming a full-time mother, she performed administrative and secretarial work for the telephone company, a lawyer, a publisher, a bank, and the U.S. Bureau of Standards.  Lois was a lifelong lover of music.  She took up the piano at the age of 12 and practiced daily into her 90’s.  She and Charlie had a great love of ballroom dancing.  They were also avid bridge players.  Lois was known for her vivacious personality, curiosity, caring and spirit of engagement.  She was friends with all her neighbors and loved her extended family.  Throughout her life, she was active in a series of Episcopal and Anglican churches, attending even in her final years regularly on line each Sunday with Epiphany Anglican and Floris United Methodist.  Lois always displayed a zest for living and remained engaged and mentally sharp even to her last day.  The last evening of her life, she spent with her children, doing grocery bill accounting, facetiming her SC grandchildren and three great grandchildren, and had joy and surprise in learning she would soon have another great grandson in the fall.

A viewing will be held from 6:30 – 7:30 PM, followed by a memorial service from 7:30-8:30 PM on Tuesday, July 14, at Adams-Green Funeral Home in Herndon, Virginia.  Lois will join her beloved Charlie and be interred with ceremony at Flint Hill Cemetery, Vienna, Virginia, at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, July 15.  

With respect to the COVID pandemic, the family understands this may cause some to be unable to attend.  Those wishing to attend should wear face covering and be respectful of distance to minimize risk to other attendees.  There will be no singing. We plan a larger gathering and celebration of Lois’s life once the pandemic is over and travel and large gatherings are less problematic.