Danielle Marie Neale Cormier

1950 - 2024

Danielle Marie Neale Cormier

February 24, 1950 - July 7, 2024

Danielle Marie Neale Cormier, born on February 24, 1950, in Charlottesville, VA, to the late Ghislaine and Spencer Neale, peacefully passed away on July 7, 2024, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, family, and friends at her home in Charlottesville, VA. She was 74 years old.

Preceding her in death were her parents; Ghislaine Signard Neale and Spencer Kellogg Neale, and her baby grandson, Isaiah Tyrik Copeland.

Danielle is survived by her son; Damian Cormier, and his wife, Mia, of Santa Rosa, CA; her daughter, Natasha Randolph, of Keene, VA; and her four grandchildren: Kobi Copeland and his wife Ashli of Newport News, VA, Cameron Quarles and Kaiden Randolph of Keene, VA, and Imogen Cormier of Santa Rosa, CA. She is also survived by her brother; Spencer Neale Jr., and his wife, Linda, of Doswell, VA, and her sister; Dorisse Aha Neale, of Charlottesville, VA. Additionally, Danielle leaves behind many beloved nieces, nephew, friends and her precious cats.

Danielle's love and compassion for all living creatures was apparent from a very early age. As a young girl, she could often be found outside riding her pony through the fields at Rocklands Farm, cuddling with a new litter of barn kittens, or nursing a sick animal back to health, including her pet skunk, Shalimar.

While her true home was always in Gordonsville, VA, boarding school and her father's job as a pilot with Singapore Airlines took her, and her family, around the world on countless adventures while living in Borneo, Singapore, London, Monaco, and the South of France, to name just a few.

While Danielle tried her hand at several different jobs throughout her life, she found her true calling in nursing, working as a Registered Nurse in various capacities over the years. She retired from the inpatient renal department at the University of Virginia, where she was known for her compassionate care and dedication to her patients.

Danielle's wide and dazzling smile, so well-known to all those who loved her, stands as a symbol for the way she lived her life and inhabited the world: open, appreciative, sometimes mischievous. From her mother, she inherited a love of all things beautiful and an endless curiosity about the world, an infectious sense of fun and a healthy appreciation for life's occasional absurdities-as well as a deep commitment to equity and fairness for all people and indeed all living things: her love of animals was total, consuming. Her father's legacy was a profound sense of the importance of decency, fair play, and generosity to those less fortunate than she. Both of these gifts made her a treasured mother, sister, grandmother, and friend: a woman who enjoyed talking deeply about life's troubles and treasures both.

Dany's delicate beauty, too, seemed to be symbolic of something larger in her. There was, in the end, something fragile, something almost butterfly-like about her presence in this world-a delicacy that suggested that she was, perhaps, visiting us from some other, more beautiful place. To that place she has now returned; but her visit among us will not be forgotten.

A graveside service to honor Danielle's memory was held on Monday, July 22nd, at Riverview Cemetery, with a private celebration following for close family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Danielle Neale Cormier PVCC Nursing School Scholarship, benefiting local, single mothers.