BARNARD, VT — Virginia Manny Lancaster, 91, died at the Pines at the Terrace in Woodstock, VT on October 14, 2020.

She was born in New York City, to Walter Roy Manny and Lorraine Craven Manny. She outlived two brothers and three older sisters.

Virginia went to Rye Country Day, Brearley, and Miss Halls schools, a History of Art program in Florence, Italy, finally earning a BA in Education from Goddard College.

She met John Lancaster in Woodstock, VT and they married in 1952. In 1953 they bought a farmhouse Barnard where they lived for over sixty years.

Virginia enjoyed many activities including racing sailboats and riding horses at the Armory in Manhattan, hunting birds and fly fishing. She was a swimmer, tennis player, a golfer, and a skier. She made several road trips across the US with her family. She drove tractors, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and ATVs. She completed the Ragbrai, a bicycle ride across Iowa.

Virginia started her career in Public Relations at F.A.O. Schwarz in New York. She worked in newspaper journalism, then at Lancaster and Sons, a retail clothing store. She was a substitute teacher, a ski instructor, and the hill manager of Sonnenburg Ski area. She and her husband ran the alternative Turkey Hollow School for eight years in their home in Barnard.

She was a Representative of the Windsor district for one term. After that she served as a Selectman and then an Auditor in Barnard. To help inform the townspeople of the important issues, she published the Barnard Bulletin which was sent to each household in Barnard free of charge.

Virginia was a longtime supporter and lifetime member of many horse associations including GMHA, IBHA, AQHA, NEHC, and VHSA.

Virginia was a regular volunteer at the Green Mountain Horse Association, the Glad Rags Sales, and Ski Runners.

Virginia is survived by her husband John; her children, Richard, Gina, and Justin Lancaster; her grandchildren, Emma, Hugo, Sonia, and Roy Salguero; Forrest, Heather, Mariah, and Alessandra Lancaster; and her great-grandchildren Tony and Paige Salguero. Also surviving are her sisters-in-law, Abigail Manny, and Mary Jane Lancaster, along with her brother-in-law James Drorbaugh. She was pre-deceased by her son, John Herbert Lancaster. The family requests no flowers, instead donations to the scholarship fund will be welcomed by the Green Mountain Horse Association in South Woodstock, VT.

The family wishes to thank the Cabot Funeral Home for their assistance.