Sandra S. Carrington

Dick and Sandra (nee Sims) Carrington, both Lynchburg natives, met at the tender age of five and married 20 years later.  Between these two events, Sandra had graduated from E. C. Glass High School, while Dick received a diploma from Virginia Episcopal School.  After two years at St. Mary’s in North Carolina, Sandra transferred to Randolph Macon Woman’s College, where she earned a B. A. degree.  Dick, likewise, holds a B. A. degree, but his comes from the University of Virginia.   Next, Dick served in the United States Marine Corps stationed in California for three years while Sandra taught in elementary schools—two years in Bedford County and one year in Richmond.

 With their marriage in 1957, Dick and Sandra settled in Lynchburg.  Dick joined Consolidated Shoe Company, a business founded in 1898 as the Lynchburg Shoe Company by his grandfather.   In 1936, a name change occurred--Consolidated Shoe Company--when it expanded to include distribution of shoes throughout the United States.   First, Dick worked as a salesman for his father and frequently traveled to exotic and distant places such as Italy, China and Taiwan. He eventually followed in his father’s footsteps to serve as one of the company’s principals.  When Dick retired from the shoe business in 2005, he founded a real estate firm, Carrington Properties. Dick died January 24, 2022.

 The birth of Richard (Dick) Alexander Carrington, IV (1958-1997) turned Sandra’s attention from teaching to that of being a mother and homemaker.  A year later, the arrival of twins Bruce (wife Ashley) and William (Billy, wife Hellen), coupled with a husband whose job required extensive traveling, added greatly to Sandra’s at-home responsibilities.  The Carringtons went on to have two more sons: John (wife Laura) and Charles (Chuck, wife Vickie), and today take great pride in their 14 grandchildren.  Dick and Sandra expect the arrival of their first great-grandchild in December of this year. 

During her younger years, Sandra played bridge, gardened, enjoyed many tennis matches with good friends, and belonged to the Hillside Garden Club and Colonial Dames of Virginia.  As in the past, she still regularly volunteers at St. John’s Episcopal Church.  She also exercises a few days a week at the Express Y on Old Forest Road, and has no intention of stopping. 

Dick’s main recreational outlet as a young man involved him as an official at high school, and later, ACC football games.  When the traveling required by his job created too many absences at home, Dick began hunting birds and grouse.  Like Sandra, he also spent time at St. John’s as a volunteer.  In fact, both have served on the vestry.