Shannon Rives Light

Shannon began life in Henry County, Virginia, where she plotted her getaway by going to college and graduating from the College of William and Mary.  After teaching middle school English and history for two years in eastern Virginia, she transitioned to banking.  She initially worked in Lynchburg for United Virginia Bankshares and later moved to Richmond where the bank ultimately became SunTrust Bankshares (today Truist).  In Shannon’s 43 years with the bank, she had many opportunities to learn new things.  Her responsibilities during many of those years focused on different aspects of lending until the last years of her banking career when, as a project manager, she concentrated on data analysis supporting customer demographic strategy.The banking work, while interesting, paled in comparison to the rewards of marrying and then helping to raise two sons.  Shannon’s sons currently live on opposite sides of the world.  The older one, wife, and seven-year-old grandson live in Taipei, Taiwan.  Her younger son, wife, and two-year-old granddaughter reside in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Shannon found herself retired and widowed when her second son married in 2016.  A family connection stretching back many years (also then widowed) came to the wedding and he asked her to join him cruising south on the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) in his 28-foot power boat Kismet.  Despite no previous boating experience, Shannon agreed, and they married a couple months later!  The ICW adventure for Shannon and her husband (William R. Light, Jr., Bill) took a total of 22 days from Norfolk, VA, to Key Colony Beach, FL.  (Bill and one of his grandsons cruised Kismet from Penobscot Bay, Maine, to Norfolk, where Shannon joined the journey.)

In recent years, Shannon and Bill enjoyed boating and spectacular sunsets in Maine, travel, and cooking together.  She sometimes worked with paper craft while he pursued a variety of interests and hobbies.  Shannon has found herself widowed again and living in North Carolina.  Her move to Riverside fulfills a plan she and Bill made together several years ago.  She’s looking forward to life at Westminster Canterbury, reconnecting with former Lynchburg friends and making new ones.