It is with great sadness that the family of Varnel Lee Green announces his passing on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. He was born in Hopewell, Virginia on June 20, 1947, to the late Thurman Green, Sr. and Mary Edna Baker-Green. Varnel was a hardworking, loving father and dedicated to his family. He will be greatly missed.

Varnel worked in construction as a brick layer. As a child, he was baptized at Union Baptist Church in Hopewell, Virginia.  He spent his leisure time going fishing, listening to music, playing guitar, watching basketball and football. He was the kind of person that everyone knew wherever he went. Varnel was a great conversationalist, engaging and charming even with strangers.

In addition to Varnel's parents, he was also preceded in death by his great love, Lois Hargrave, whom he shared over 50 years together; two sisters, Lula Mae Jones (New Jersey) and Helen Hobbs (New York); two brothers, Alfred Green (Petersburg) and Thurman Green, Jr. (Dinwiddie County); niece, Jennifer Anita Jones (New Jersey); and three nephews, Grover Harris, Jr. (North Carolina), Marvin Jones and Marcus Lewis (both of Petersburg).

Surviving siblings consist of his three sisters, Mildred Elaine Green of New Jersey, Alberta Harris of Hampton, Virginia, and Eula Rena Jones of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, all of whom he loved and cherished. He is also survived by his daughters, Denetris Hargrave and Danielle Hargrave Avery; son-in-law, Dione Avery; his beautiful grandchildren, Dorian Avery, Drew Avery, Dominick Avery, and Dawn Avery all of whom he loved and cherished.

Also to cherish Varnel's memory, his nieces, Daphne Jones-McLaughlin, Cassandra Page, Angela Thomas, Yolanda Jones, and Jeanine Harris; nephews, Daryl Harris, Kenneth Harris, Russell Harris, Steven Turner and Frederick Lewis. In addition to a host of other family and friends to acknowledge Isaac Hargrave (Pamela), Arongio Hargrave, Phil Hargrave, and Darryl Hargrave and ex-brother-in-law, Calvin L. Jones.

Services will be held 3:00 P.M., Saturday, June 13, 2026, in the Chapel of J. M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment, Inc., 102 South Avenue, Petersburg, VA. The interment to follow at Dinwiddie Memorial Park.

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.