Ola Lawson "Bernice" Cordle

Ola "Bernice" Lawson Cordle, age 95, of Raven, Virginia, passed away on Thursday, July 17, 2025. Bernice was born on August 26, 1929, in Red Ash, Virginia, and was the daughter of the late John Matthew Lawson and Fannie Cline/Johnson Lawson. She was a 1947 graduate of Richlands High School and had attended college. Bernice was a "Jack of all trades". In 1966, she was hired as one of the first teacher's aides at Raven Elementary. She later worked as a Singer Sewing Machine dealer, at the Virginia Employment Commission, and sold insurance for Peoples Life Insurance, which later became Monumental Life Insurance Company. Bernice owned a variety shop where she sold flowers and taught ceramics. She was an active 4-H leader. After all those "trades", she worked at Walmart for 19 years in fabrics and crafts, where she later retired at the age of 89. She was a prior member of the Raven United Methodist Church, where she also taught Sunday school, and some years later became a member of the Richlands First Methodist Church. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Eugene "Checker" Parson Cordle, a son, Douglas Eugene Cordle, and a sister, Geraldine Lawson Cole Yearout. She is survived by her: Daughter: Elizabeth "Anne" Cordle of the home Daughter-in-Law, Margaret "Margo" Jane Bays of Prestonsburg, Kentucky Sister, Joan Lawson, Bishop of Bridgeport, West Virginia Several family and friends also survive. Funeral services for Ola "Bernice" Cordle will be conducted at 1:00 pm on Monday, July 21, 2025, at the Hurst-Scott Funeral Home in Richlands, Virginia, with Rev. Annette Warren officiating. Interment will follow at Greenhills Memory Gardens, located in the upper mausoleum at Claypool Hill, Virginia. Family and Friends will serve as pallbearers. The Cordle family will receive friends from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. on Monday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Gethsemane Baptist Church Backpack Program, 2902 Clinch St, Richlands, VA 24641. Hurst-Scott Funeral Home in Richlands, Virginia, oversees arrangements, and those wishing to express sympathy online may do so at www.hurstscottfuneralhomes.com