Rebecca Monroe Tomlin

Rebecca Monroe Tomlin, of Big Island, passed away on October 19, 2024. She was born on August 5, 1945, a daughter of the late Weston Morgan Monroe and Ira Enochs Monroe. 

Rebecca attended Rustburg High School. Upon marrying her first husband, Raymond Lane, she left high school. After Raymond’s passing, she met and married the late Michael Allen Tomlin. They shared 45 years together until his passing in 2021. Rebecca was always a hard worker, throughout her life she held many jobs, her longest being the kitchen manager at H & H Food Market. When she wasn’t working, she took great pride in mowing and weed eating. Especially, supervising the people doing it. Some say she could have made a living working for the highway department, assisting them with their mowing operations. When she wasn’t working or mowing, she was spending time with the grandkids. She was an excellent grandma to not only her grandkids but to other people’s kids as well. Rebecca was a woman of determination and grit. After being diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia, and given days to live, she underwent an experimental treatment at UVA and beat the cancer. She not only beat the cancer but lived for another nine years, making her the longest living survivor of this rare form of Leukemia. 

In addition to her parents and both of her husbands, she was preceded in death by a sister, Patricia Reynolds.

Rebecca is survived by her son, Edward Allen Tomlin (Jessica); two brothers, Winston F. Monroe and Richard B. Monroe (Wanda); one sister, Brenda M. Ashwell (Dennis); two grandchildren, Abbey Lee Tomlin and Luke Allen Tomlin; and many other family and friends.

A visitation will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, at Big Island Baptist Church from 6 – 8 p.m. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at Bethany United Methodist Church, Rustburg, at 1 p.m. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Heartland Hospice, 7806 Timberlake Rd, Lynchburg, VA 24502. 

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.