Sandra Stone Whitehead, 70, of Lynchburg, Virginia and Boothbay Harbor, Maine, died on April 16, 2017 of bone cancer.

She was born June 12, 1946 in Lynchburg, the daughter of Russell Livingston Stone and Eva DeJarnette Stone. She was the granddaughter of Joseph Reuben and Mary Ellen (Hatchett) Stone and Gordon Charles and Mattie (Francis) DeJarnette.

Sandra was a 1964 graduate of EC Glass High School and 1967 graduate of Radford College with a degree in elementary education. While at Radford she was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and the German Social Club. As an educator, she first worked professionally as a classroom teacher the Albemarle School System, then as a Title I in-school tutor at Sandusky Jr. High School in Lynchburg.

Sandra married her E.C. Glass high school sweetheart, Paul Whitehead Jr. in 1967. They were married for almost 50 years.

Sandra’s passions centered around her family, her community, and the arts. A special interest in genealogy fueled her roles in several historical familial organizations. She was a past regent of the Poplar Forest Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and served as the registrar for 16 years, helping others with their genealogical research. She was also a member of the Manakin Huguenot Society, the Jamestowne Society, and the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Lynchburg Committee. Her community involvement included a special interest in historic preservation.

During her college years at Radford, Sandra found her love for art history. In 1986 she began taking classes at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College where she was a docent in the pilot program for Art in Schools at the Maier Museum of Art. She served as docent for 12 years and continued to audit college art history and studio art courses. Sandra attended the Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art in Brittany, France administered by the Rhode Island School of Design and began her second career as an artist, specializing in oil landscapes. She attended painting workshops in France, Italy, Mexico, and Maine and was a member of the Lynchburg Art Club. Her work has appeared in many shows, and her paintings are in the permanent collections of the Jones Memorial Library, EC Glass High School, and the Pearson Cancer Center.

Sandra and Paul were great collectors and patrons of the arts, both in Virginia and Maine. She had a particular interest in collecting Chinese export porcelain, antique furniture, and paintings by American Artists. She was on the President’s Advisory Committee for the Maier Museum of Art and served as president of the Friends of Daura Gallery at Lynchburg College.

A lover of travel, she regularly toured Europe from Lisbon to Moscow (with a detour to Morocco) and throughout southeast Asia including a summer in China. In every new city, her first visit was to the art museum which she has carefully researched in advance. She loved Bermuda, and proudly spent 50 consecutive summers in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

Sandra maintained a vegetable garden at home and became a master gardener in 1988. A past-president of the Willow Lawn Garden Club, she was also a member of the Lynchburg Garden Club, serving as the horticultural and conservation chairman as well as historian. She and Paul enjoyed competing in duplicate bridge tournaments. She was a member of the Duplicate Bridge Clubs of Lynchburg and Boothbay Harbor, where she led the duplicate bridge group at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club.

Sandra is survived by her husband, The Honorable Paul Whitehead Jr.; children, Virgilia Stone Whitehead Bryant (Dr. Shane Robert Bryant) of Falmouth, Maine, Paul Whitehead III of Lovingston, Virginia, and Robert Whitehead (Melissa Smith Whitehead) of Richmond Virginia; and grandchildren, Elizabeth Bradford Bryant, Catherine Whitehead Bryant, Charles Livingston Whitehead, and Amelia Smith Whitehead. She is also survived by her mother, Eva DeJarnette Stone of Lynchburg; brother, Russell L. Stone Jr. of Oregon, and sister, Nancy Stone Ross of Florida.

There will be a visitation at Westminster Canterbury of Lynchburg in the Hume Room on Wednesday, April 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. A memorial service will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church of Lynchburg on Thursday, April 20 at 1 p.m. with a reception following at the church. A graveside service at Trinity Episcopal Church in Nelson County, Virginia will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that you consider a donation to the Jones Memorial Library of Lynchburg, an arts organization, or a charity of your choice.

Diuguid Funeral Service, Wiggington Road Chapel (434) 385-8900 is serving the family.