Mary Christine Sheldon

Mary Christine Sheldon 21, of Stanardsville, passed away Monday, July 1, 2024. She was born May 28, 2003, in Charlottesville, VA. She is survived by her loving parents Reuel (Rue) Sheldon, IV, and Kimberly Deane Sheldon; sister, Erin Elizabeth; brother, Trey Aldrich; paternal grandparents, Reuel & Keila Sheldon of Great Barrington, MA; maternal grandparents, Kemper Deane of Madison and Cheryl Courtney of Stanardsville; uncle, Greg (Christine) Deane; cousins, Nick, Sophia and Jesse of Stanardsville; aunt, Tori (John) Basso of Manchester, CT; cousins, Tyler and Andy; aunt, Kara (Keith) Bingham of Reno, NV; cousins, Cameron and Max; great uncle, Rick Wakeland of Kennebunkport, ME; great aunt, Lori Sheldon of Greene, RI; great uncles, Wayne (Cecelia)Courtney of Charlottesville; Keith (Becky) Courtney of Ruckersville; Wayne Deane (Jeannie) of Monmouth, OR. She is also survived by her beloved cat Mazzy Starr & dog Finn. 

At the tender age of three, Mary began her academic career at Northridge Pre-School in Charlottesville, VA. She celebrated dual graduations in 2021 from William Monroe High School and magna cum laude with an Associate of Science degree from PVCC. She attended James Madison University working towards a degree in social work. 

Mary loved being outside and participating in sports. She played youth league soccer for many seasons prior to discovering her love for running. In fifth grade, she ran her first 5K, Jaida’s Joy, in honor of her classmate. To her surprise, she placed first running an eight-minute mile. This love for running led Mary to participate in many summers running camps and earning a spot on the high school cross-country team when she was in middle school. She lettered in cross-country as a freshman and represented her school at the state level. She loved skiing with her family and first hit the slopes at the age of four at Ski Butternut where her Gramps was the Operations Manager. She cherished her trips to MA visiting her Grammy and Gramps and exploring the Berkshires. Mary spent many weekends rollerblading at Funky-Monkey’s and skateboarding at local parks. She enjoyed playing acoustic and electric guitar as well as keyboard. One of her favorite activities was hiking anywhere along the Shenandoah Parkway. She hiked Old Rag from bottom to top independently when she was just four years old. Another favorite hike was Bearfence which she frequented as often as possible. Hours of family time were spent at Big Meadows playing on the deer paths after a long hike or watching the sunset. Mary also loved the ocean and spent her first five birthdays at the beach where she took her first steps. 

Trey wants people to know that Erin was Mary’s best friend. She loved watching movies with her sister and cruising to music with both he and Erin in the car. She loved taking them somewhere to cheer them up, and she strived to always try and make everyone proud.

Mary was blessed with another best friend, Julia Graham and her family Scott, Lori, Alex, and Harrison who included her in many vacations and made her feel so very loved. 

A memorial service will be held at Batten Funeral Home, Sunday, July 21, at 1 pm. A reception will follow at Lydia Mountain Pavilion. 

Should friends desire, memorial contributions may be sent to Erin and Trey Sheldon, c/o Kimberly Sheldon, P.O. Box 78, Ruckersville, Virginia 22968. Mary’s siblings would like to choose how gifts are shared with charities that honor their sister. 

Arrangements are entrusted to Batten Funeral Home of Ruckersville, Virginia. 

We have set up an online guestbook at www.battenfuneral.com for those who wish to share their memories of Mary or express their condolences. Your words will be a source of comfort and strength for the family during this time.