Lorraine Carruthers Menard, 54, passed away Friday, February 23, 2018. Born in Beaumont Texas, she has been a resident of Virginia since 1988. Lorraine moved to Lake Charles Louisiana as a teenager where she graduated High School. She met her husband Michael Menard while attending Louisiana State University. After moving to Virginia, Lorraine received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Christopher Newport College and a Master of Arts in Education and Human Development from George Washington University.

Lorraine learned to play the piano as a child (playing Rachmaninoff, Bach, Shubert and Shuman), but she loved to listen to the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. She was an avid gardener who could grow anything, bringing a stick back to life. She had an eye for color and a feel for placement. She loved animals of all kinds but especially her cats, Ellie, Mattie and Maria. She had a gentle smile, a sarcastic wit, a foul mouth and a joyful humor. She loved to teach people about jewelry making, with chainmail jewelry and beadwork her specialties. She sewed, crocheted, and knitted constantly. She could do anything once she set her mind to it.

Lorraine was preceded in death by her parents, Stephan and Jean Carruthers and her brother Stephen Carruthers, Jr. She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Michael Menard, and brother, James "Jim" Carruthers.

"I am a leaf on the wind.  Watch me soar."