Renia Catherine Poe Bayer-Sheffield of Fernandina Beach passed away on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 25, 2016.
Born in Jacksonville on Sept. 20, 1939, she was delivered by her Daddy and joined her four brothers, Alfred, Dean, Leslie and Bill Poe, and two sisters, Gladys and Peggy Poe.
Renia had a memorable and wonderful childhood and met her best friend, Majol Camplejohn, in first grade at Norwood Elementary School, and they remained best friends over the next 72 years.
She graduated from Andrew Jackson in 1957 and attended Blue Mountain College for Women, Blue Mountain, Miss., and Jacksonville University.
In 1959, Renia met her future husband, Alvin Bayer III, whom she would marry in 1961. Renia’s husband, Alvin, graduated from Emory University School of Dentistry in 1962, and they served two years with the Navy in Beeville, Texas, where a son, Michael Alvin Bayer, was born in 1963.
In 1964, Renia and her family moved to Fernandina Beach, where her husband, Alvin, opened his dental practice and became the third dentist in Nassau County. Upon settling in Fernandina Beach, she and her husband met and established a special lifelong friendship with Joyce and Tommy Shave as well as Marjanne and Smiley Lee.
In 1965, a daughter, Allison Marie, was born, and in 1971, a daughter, Renia Catherine “Cathy,” was born.
Renia became a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in 1964 and became very active in the community. She was a member and president of Humphreys Memorial Hospital Volunteers, where she and friend Wini Smith organized the hospital’s gift shop, Pink Treasure Chest, with the proceeds to help the hospital. Renia was a founding member and president of the Amelia Island Fine Arts Association and a member and twice president of the Magnolia Garden Club. She was appointed as a director of the Chamber of Commerce for four years and was a team mother for the Pop Warner Association’s football and cheerleading members.
She was a member of the Terpsichorean Dance Club and Bridge Club with her dearest friends for 40 years. Special to her heart were: Mary Braddock, Jane Bray, Chris Bryan, Diane Cobb, Karen Healan, Lynn Hicks, Marcy Mock, Gail Shave, Lou Simmons, Pam Simmons, Jean Walker and Kathy Wandmacher.
In 1971, Renia was honored by being listed in a book, “Outstanding Young Women of America.”
In 1980, she obtained a real estate license and joined Fernandina Beach Realty. In 1985, Renia was honored by being named Realtor of the Year, and in 1987 she became president of the Nassau County Association of Realtors. Renia obtained her certified site agent and sold new home construction in Nassau, Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties from 1989-2005.
In 2006, Renia married William F. Sheffield. She mourned his passing in 2009.
She was predeceased by her father, Alfred Lee Poe Sr.; her mother, Gladys Viola Criswell Poe; three brothers, Hardy Dean Poe (Virginia), Leslie Newton Poe (Vera) and Alfred Lee Poe Jr. (Dot); a sister, Peggy Lou Poe Ruiz; and two nephews, Leslie William Poe and Harry Bailey.
Renia is survived by a brother, Wilfred Rabon Poe (Mollye); a sister, Gladys Viola Poe (Bill); and her greatest blessings, a son, Michael Bayer, and two daughters, Allison Marie Bayer Turner (Aundre) and Renia Catherine (Cathy) Bayer Dozier. She is also survived by her joy and great blessings, three grandchildren, twins Lorne Augustus and Catherine Annalee Turner, and Rylie Marie Dozier; as well as her best friend of 72 years, Majol Camplejohn Miller (Gordon).
She was also an aunt, great-aunt and great-great-aunt to a multitude of nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church with the Rev. Rector Stephen Mazingo officiating.
Mrs. Sheffield will be laid to rest in St. Peter’s Cemetery.
A luncheon will follow in Burn’s Hall of St. Peter’s Church.
Her family will receive friends on Thursday, Sept. 29, from 5-7 p.m. at Oxley-Heard.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are encouraged to be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
Please share her Life Legacy and leave your memories and condolences at www.oxleyheard.com.
Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors