Pearlie Elizabeth Glass (Caldwell) Cumbie

Published 3:27 pm Thursday, January 30, 2025

Pearlie Elizabeth Glass (Caldwell) Cumbie, of Randolph, passed away on Monday, Jan. 20, at Lynchburg General Hospital. She was born on Feb. 4, 1931, to Charles Booker and Pearlie Inez Keesee Glass. When she was still a newborn, her mother passed away and she was unofficially adopted by her cousins, Eugene and Hilda Caldwell and raised as one of their own. 

She is predeceased by her parents and all of her brothers and sisters in both families.

She is survived by a son, Bruce Cumbie; nieces, Barbara Jean Caldwell Hash (Ralph), Alice Faye Caldwell Williamson, Joann Caldwell Williamson (Gerald) and Ann Cumbie Jones (Lynn); nephews, Allen Caldwell (Teresa) and Tony Caldwell (Cindy); and numerous cousins. She is also survived by a furry, four-legged friend named Bridgett, so named by Pearl because she was found abandoned at the Staunton River Bridge.

Pearl graduated from Rustburg High School, married Jimmie D. Cumbie a week later and moved to Scuffletown in the Saxe area (now Randolph) of Charlotte County. She helped on the farm and also worked at Burlington, Virginia Crafts, and retired from Clover Yarns in 1993.

Pearl attended New Hope Methodist Church and was a member of the Women of the Church. She also taught a Sunday School Class for a while. Pearl loved the Lord and read through the Bible several times. She knew the Bible so well that she often could tell someone where to find any verse that they were having trouble finding.

Pearl was a voracious reader and could read a box full of books in a few days. She enjoyed knitting, crocheting, and sewing. She also had a garden up until this past year and enjoyed working with her hands. She even made green tomato ketchup a year before last and canned several jars full. She was a great cook like most ladies who grew up on the farm. She also had a milk goat and various animals through the years. She especially loved her dogs and cats. She could shoot a bow as well as a shotgun and often told the story of when Jimmie D. was at a barn firing tobacco one time she had to go out and shoot a raccoon that the dog had treed and was keeping everyone else awake in the middle of the night. She could drive a tractor or farm truck as well as a car and got her driver’s license when she was only 14 years old using the farm truck that they owned.

A funeral service was held at New Hope Methodist Church on Friday, Jan. 24, at 11 a.m., where family visitation started at 10. Burial followed in the church cemetery and there was a reception in the fellowship hall afterwards. The Reverend Ralph Moore conducted the service. Memorial donations can be made to New Hope Methodist Church Building Fund or to any charity of your choice. 

Browning-Duffer Funeral Home of Keysville is in charge of the arrangements.