With All My Love… 

Denise Anne Meyers, 73, of Spotsylvania, Virginia, passed away surrounded by love and held closely by her family following a short but courageously fought battle with a rare and aggressive Stage IV breast cancer.

 Born and raised in New York, Denise was the daughter of the late James and Frances Sortino. From her early years in New York through the family and home she would later build in New Jersey and then Virginia, Denise lived a life defined by hard work, generosity, family, relationships, an extraordinary willingness to be there for the people she loved, and a special kind of New York class all her own! 

As a young woman, Denise lived an exciting life that included modeling, traveling, and working for a law firm in Manhattan. She later worked for the Federal Aviation Administration in Queens, New York, where a job would bring someone very special into her life: Emma Martin. Emma became much more than a friend or coworker to Denise; she became like a mother to her. Their relationship held a deeply special place in Denise's heart throughout her life. They weren't simply friends, they were family. 

Denise went on to build a beautiful life with her beloved husband, Harold Kenneth Meyers. Together, they shared nearly 51 years of marriage, falling just two months short of celebrating their 51st wedding anniversary. More than five decades together brought a lifetime of experiences, family, travel, celebrations, challenges, laughter, traditions, and countless memories. At the center of the life they built together were their three daughters: Carissa, Chevonne, and Tamara. 

A Mother Who Was Always There...

To her daughters, Denise was someone they knew they could count on. She was always available and always ready to help, whether that meant listening, showing up, offering advice, helping solve a problem, or quite literally giving her last dime to someone she loved. Her generosity wasn't measured by how much she had. It was measured by how much she was willing to give.

 Denise also understood that some of life's most meaningful moments were found in the ordinary ones. With her daughters, traditions grew out of everyday routines… Friday grocery shopping followed by Mexican food for lunch with a margarita, of course, meeting up with coupons in hand, prepping for holiday meals, and laughing at how perfectly in sync they could be. 

They weren't elaborate traditions. They were simply life with Ma. And it is those familiar, ordinary moments that her daughters will miss in extraordinary ways. 

There were the trips to Bath & Body Works, gathering her daughter and grandchildren for their shopping adventures, most often each with two carts in hand following after her as she collected their newest finds, using Mom's coupons, of course! Denise loved visiting Pennsylvania to spend time with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, and even those trips developed traditions of their own. She had a way of making friends wherever she went, including the staff at her favorite hotel, where she became such a familiar face that she even received free coffees. And no Pennsylvania visit was complete without a trip to Stauffers, where Denise stocked up on her favorite coffee flavors and happily enjoyed a little tax-free shopping. 

And, of course, let's not forget traveling to Florida to stand alongside her daughter in celebrating her grandchildren's victories… graduations, baseball games, special olympic medals! And yes, there were those unique Coach finds she loved discovering while traveling, the ones she couldn't find even in PA! 

Granny... 

Being Granny brought Denise tremendous joy and, as her family knew well, she loved spoiling her grandchildren. She was the proud grandmother of Devonne Pinkard and his wife, Dana Pinkard; Antanee Pinkard; Taija Lewis; Kaliana Pinkard; the late Desean Lewis; Taynesha Meyers; Jesiah Meyers; Jaydon Lewis; Jabari Meyers; and Braylen Pinkard. Her family grew another generation with the arrival of her beloved great-granddaughter, Lucia Violet Pinkard, who brought her tremendous joy.

 Family was where Denise wanted to be. 

She loved spending time together, traveling, cooking her family's favorite meals, shopping, jewelry, and tending to her plants. She had a special way of making a house feel like home, a place where family and friends could gather, eat, laugh, stay awhile, and always know they were welcome. Her plants were especially important to her. She nurtured them, watched them grow, and filled her home with their beauty and life.

A Career Built on Relationships...

 Denise's appreciation for jewelry also became an important part of her professional life. For more than 30 years, Denise served as Manager of Diamonds and Designs, where she played an instrumental role in helping grow and sustain the family-owned business. In addition to managing its day-to-day operations, Denise handled all accounting aspects of the business, bringing tremendous dedication, attention to detail, and care to her work. She further developed her knowledge and expertise in the jewelry industry as a member of and certified professional through the Diamond Council of America.

Denise took great pride in ensuring that customers received high-quality jewelry, knowledgeable guidance, exceptional service, and something equally important to her, someone they could trust.

 She was completely devoted to her customers. For Denise, helping someone select jewelry was never simply about making a sale. She understood that jewelry often represented some of life's most meaningful moments… engagements, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, celebrations, and milestones. She wanted every person who walked through the door to feel cared for and valued. Over more than three decades, customers became familiar faces and, in many cases, friends. Her professionalism, knowledge, warmth, and genuine commitment to the people she served became an important part of the legacy she leaves behind at Diamonds and Designs.

She Remembered...

That same attention to people extended far beyond her work. Denise believed in remembering the moments that mattered. In a world that increasingly moved toward text messages, emails, and social media, Denise still sent handwritten cards. Birthdays and anniversaries were remembered with a card personally chosen, written, signed, and mailed by Denise. It was one of her quiet and consistent ways of saying: I remembered you. You matter to me. 

And Denise had a way of making people matter. That gift followed her even into the final chapter of her life. During her illness, members of the nursing staff who cared for Denise formed relationships with her and her family. Nurses returned to visit her, shed tears, and grieved alongside those who loved her.

For her family, it was another reminder of something they had witnessed throughout Denise's life: People became important to Denise, and Denise became important to people.

Her Legacy...

 Denise's battle with cancer was short, aggressive, and extraordinarily difficult. But cancer represents only the final pages of a much larger and more beautiful story. Her story is found in a marriage that lasted nearly 51 years. It is found in three daughters and generations of grandchildren. It lives in Friday grocery trips and Mexican lunches. In Bath & Body Works coupons. In holiday menus planned before anyone ever stepped into the kitchen. In trips to Pennsylvania, free hotel coffees, Stauffers shopping trips, and favorite coffee flavors. 

It is found in meals prepared with love, plants carefully tended, journeys taken, jewelry selected to commemorate life's special moments, customers who became friends, and a home where the people she loved always knew they belonged.

Most of all, Denise's story lives in the countless ways, large and small, she showed up for the people she loved. 

Denise was preceded in death by her parents, James and Frances Sortino; her brother, Louis Sortino; her beloved grandson, Desean Lewis; and Emma Martin, the treasured woman who became like a mother to Denise and held a deeply special place in her heart. 

She leaves to cherish her memory her beloved husband, Harold Kenneth Meyers; her daughters, Carissa Pinkard (Phil), Chevonne Lewis, and Tamara Roberts; her grandchildren, Devonne Pinkard (Dana), Antanee Pinkard, Taija Lewis, Kaliana Pinkard, Taynesha Meyers, Jesiah Meyers, Jaydon Lewis, Jabari Meyers, and Braylen Pinkard; her great-granddaughter, Lucia Violet Pinkard; and a host of extended family members, friends, colleagues, customers, and others whose lives were touched by hers. 

With All My Love…

There is one simple phrase that captures so much of Denise. For years, she ended the handwritten cards and notes she sent to those she loved with familiar words: “With All My Love…” 

And when those cards came from Denise and Harold, they so often ended: “With All Our Love…” 

They may have seemed like simple words written at the bottom of a card. Today, they mean so much more. Because Denise didn't simply write those words. She lived them. 

There will be birthdays and anniversaries ahead when a familiar handwritten card from Denise will no longer arrive in the mail. There will be grocery runs, lunches, holidays, cups of coffee, family gatherings, and countless ordinary moments when her absence will be deeply felt. But there will also be reminders of her everywhere…in the plants she nurtured, the recipes she made, the jewelry she loved, the traditions she created, the relationships she built, and the cards her family and friends will undoubtedly hold a little more tightly now. 

Her love continues through the family she built, the memories she gave them, the lives she touched, and the countless pieces of Denise that those who loved her will carry forward. And so, as we celebrate the beautiful life of a deeply loved wife, mother, Granny, great-grandmother, family member, friend, and so much more, we return to Denise the words she gave to us so many times: 

**With All Our Love, Harold, Carissa, Chevonne, Tamara . . . Always. ❤ ** 

Celebration of Life

Family and friends are invited to gather to honor, remember, and celebrate the life of Denise Anne Meyers on Friday, October 2, 2026, at Laurel Hill Funeral Home in Spotsylvania, Virginia. Viewing & Visitation 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Celebration of Life 1:15 p.m. Flowers and plants in Denise's memory are warmly welcomed. For a woman who found such joy in tending to living things and filling her home with beautiful plants, they are an especially meaningful way to honor her memory.