Constance Leigh Reid Happel
Published 7:47 pm Thursday, May 29, 2025
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Constance Leigh Reid Happel departed this life on May 27, 2025, after her battle with breast cancer. She was born on September 23, 1943, to the late William Harrell Reid and his wife, Virginia Reed West Reid, the 9th generation Norfleet/Riddick/Beamon/West family to call Suffolk home.
She is survived by her daughter, Katherine Leigh Happel Gorden (Dennis) of Ormond Beach, FL and her son, H. Jason Happel of Dulles, VA. She is also survived by her grandchildren, William Nicholas, Elizabeth Reid, Charlotte Leigh and Caroline Elizabeth Happel of Boonsboro, MD.
When she moved back to Suffolk in 1998, she spent 23 joyous years at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy as Upper School Secretary and then as the assistant to three heads of schools (Naismith, Foster, Bell). She retired in 2011, having made many friendships with students, parents, devoted staff and of course, the football family’s “precious angels”.
Connie was baptized and confirmed at Oxford Methodist Church. She became a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal church in 1990, serving on the Vestry and the Alter Guild. She was a member of the Nansemond Historical Society, the Constantia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Suffolk Book Club.
Her family and extended West Family, and their love and loyalty to one another ensured Connie’s life was full of love and joy.
A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 7, 2025 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Suffolk, VA. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Southeast Food Bank of Virginia, 800 Tidewater Dr. Norfolk, VA 23504.
