Virginia Betty Pagels, formerly Virginia Betty Arnold, age 89, of N.Syracuse, NY, went to be with the Lord on July 23, 2012. She was the daughter of the late Hector and Harriet Shoen, born in Watertown, NY on March 14, 1923. Deceased are 6 brothers: Rolland E. Shoen, Cecil A. Shoen, Donald A. Shoen, Charles H. Shoen, Merrill F. Shoen, Robert M. Shoen and 3 sisters: Rachel E. Shoen-Mack, Francis S. Shoen, and Winifred A. Shoen. She was married to Allen Lester, Edward Arnold, and Lawrence Pagels, all who pre-deceased her. Virginia is survived by 2 children: Arthur Lester and wife Sylvia of Binghamton, NY, and Ruby Arnold-Howard (formerly Naumann) and husband Alan of Danville, VA. She is survived by 10 grandchildren: Karen Shemidine, Jerry Casciotti, Gay Lester, the late Ken Lester, Amy Gosselin, Wendy Naumann, Eric Naumann, Nicholas Naumann, Tim Howard, and Christopher Howard; 21 great grandchildren; and 6 great-great grandchildren. Virginia “Betty” accepted the Lord as her Savior in 1997 and grew daily in her love of Jesus and attended Sunday media services with Charles Stanley – First Baptist Church Atlanta. She was humble, kind, shared unconditional love, delighted in adventure and generosity, and was persevering through adversity. She was known by her “green thumb”, earning a First Place Blue Ribbon at the NYS Fair and for her many gifts of embroidery. She retired from Syroco. A memorial service will be held at Sears-Middleton-Jones Funeral Home, 209 North Main St. N.Syracuse, NY, on Saturday, August 25, at 1 p.m. A celebration of her life reception will be at Malta Manor, Day Room, 107 Trolley Barn Lane N.Syracuse directly following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made in memory to Samaritan’s Purse 1-800-528-1980 or Charles Stanley In-Touch Ministries - 1-800-789-1473.

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