Gail Yvonne Blackwell Crenshaw departed this life early Saturday morning, August 15, 2026, one day before her 77th earthly birthday, August 16, 2026 at Bon Secours Southside Medical Center in Petersburg, Virginia. Gail was the only child born to the late Barbara Helen Moore Blackwell  and Clifton Alexander Blackwell at 724 Mt. Airy Street in Petersburg, Virginia. Gail attended Mount Olivet Baptist Church as a youth and later worshipped at Faith and Hope Temple Church of Christ under the Leadership of Bishop Herman Crockett, Jr. Her last public outing was on Sunday morning,  May 3, 2026 when she attended Greater Faith A.M.E. Zion Church to worship and celebrate her father's 95th birthday.

Gail was educated in the Petersburg City Public Schools. She also earned a certificate in early childhood education at John Tyler Community College, now Brightpoint  Community College. Gail's first job was as a teacher in her great aunt's nursery school, Nita's All Day Nursery School in Petersburg. Following that employment she was hired as a teacher at the Southside Virginia Training Center. Gail was a civil servant for more than twenty years after which she retired.

Gail was preceded in death by her loving and devoted mother, Barbara M. Devontenno, aka Lucy and step-father Elder Kinzo Devontenno, three siblings, Kinzo "Ducky" Devontenno, Jr., Barbara Ann Campbell and Cortez Devontenno, her grandparents, Prince and Lottie Moore and Helen Virginia Blackwell, her uncles, Claiborne, Lynn and Albert Moore, William Blackwell and her aunts, Claudette Blackwell and Doris Sanders.

She leaves to cherish her memories, her loving and devoted children, Veronica, Juan, James Crenshaw, Jr. (Judy); her brother, Michael Devontenno; her loving father, Clifton Alexander Blackwell (Carolyn); grandchildren, Corey Crenshaw, Derrell Mohammed, Timara Hargraves, Donnell Mann and Jahbreil Taylor; and one aunt, Joyce Blackwell Jones; brother-in-law, Robert Crenshaw, Jr. (Patricia); nieces and nephews, Maria Spratley, Helen Spratley, Javon Crenshaw (Marsha), Devine Crenshaw (Tekisha) Shree Devontenno, Michael Ridges, Anthony Devontenno and Robert Crenshaw III (Amanda); and close cousins, Prince Moore and Vivian Ann Lovett. Gail will also be missed by a loving and supportive godson, Bernard Harper.

And finally, Gail will certainly be missed by a host of other people including other cousins, ex co-workers, neighbors, in-laws and friends. Also, we can't forget her nameless and named "furbabies" who welcomed you on her front porch.

Services will be held 1:00 P.M., Saturday, August 29, 2026, in the Chapel of J. M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment, Inc., 102 South Avenue, Petersburg, VA, Bishop Herman Crockett, Jr., eulogist. The interment to follow at Dinwiddie Memorial Park.

Please keep the Crenshaw family in your thoughts and prayers during this time of bereavement.

J. M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment, Inc., 102 South Avenue, Petersburg, VA, (804) 732-8911, www.jmwilkersonsince1874.com. Watch the funeral services live online on our J. M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment, Inc. Facebook page or click here to view: https://vimeo.com/event/6140302?fl=so&fe=fs