Sharon Aileen Rakes

Sharon Aileen Belcher Rakes, of Chapmanville, West Virginia, passed away on March 9, 2026, at the age of 72, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Born on January 1, 1954, in Huntington, West Virginia, to Dorothy Privett Belcher Smith and Lee Belcher, Jr., Sharon lived a life centered on family and quiet joys.

She was married to Paul Rakes for 48 years and together they raised three children: Amy Gail Rakes Teasley of Athens, Ohio, Jamie Paul Rakes (Elle) of Taylor Mill, Kentucky, and Joshua Lee Rakes (Kimberly) of Chapmanville. Sharon also cherished Willis Wesley Stollings as a “third son,” her stepdaughter Amy Jo Vance, and her grandchildren Laikyn Reese Teasley, Rory Jameson Rakes, Caleb Scott Evans, Logan Akers, and Hali Akers Shultz (Maxwell), along with many others she embraced as family.

Sharon found deep pleasure in crafting, visiting friends, tending her flower garden, and watching her beloved hummingbirds. Her special friend Jane Doe brought her great comfort, as did the many people whose lives she touched with her kindness and loving nature. Those qualities will continue to live on in her husband, children, grandchildren, and all who were fortunate enough to know her.

She was preceded in death by her mother Dorothy, father Lee, stepfather Chuck Smith, sister Sandra Jean Belcher Adams, brothers Dickie Lee Belcher and Toney Curtis Belcher, and nephews Curtis Blaine Belcher and Larry David “Bo” Belcher. Sharon requested no formal services. She will be laid to rest at Privett Cemetery on Airport Road in Chapmanville.