We, her family and friends, were among the most fortunate people. We were blessed with a person so full of love, laughter and light, that she radiated it to everyone she loved, everyone she knew and everyone she came near. This person was our beautiful and vivacious, Berry Dawn Jennings Ranieri. Her amazing smile lit up a room, and then there was that empathetic sixth sense of hers that just knew when someone needed a kind word or a hug.
Berry was born on Dec. 1, 1976, in Fairmont. This beautiful soul became our guardian angel on Sept. 20, 2022, when she passed as the result of a hit-and-run driver, while walking her beloved dog, Hobby, near their home in Sacramento, Calif.
She was married to the love of her life, Christopher Michael Ranieri, and they recently celebrated their 20-year anniversary. Berry always said their greatest joint accomplishment was their beautiful son, Nicholas Paul Ranieri II. Nick was her “Pride and Joy.” She loved her husband and son abundantly, “her boys” as she referred to them.
Berry struggled with Multiple Sclerosis. She faced this disease for 22 years with courage, and she absolutely despised the thought of being defined by it. Berry was the sweetest and kindest person. She was also an enigma, because she could be a savage. She was a free-spirited fireball who didn’t care what people thought when she was standing her ground, fighting for the underdog or defending her loved ones.
Berry was an old soul, full of life. She loved being out in nature. She so enjoyed her fish pond, her animals both wild and tame and her garden and fruit trees, all were her absolute passion. She loved traveling, going to the beach, seeing the Sequoia trees and loved visiting her West Virginia hills to be with family and enjoying her Dad’s farm. She loved living and doing. If you are outside and see a red dragonfly please know Berry is paying you a visit. If you find yourself missing her take a bag of pet food to your local shelter in honor of her lifelong love of dogs.
Aside from Chris, Nick and Hobby, Berry is survived by her four parents: her mother, Claudia Cain Atkinson, and stepfather, J. Atkinson, of Kingwood; and her father, Stanley Jennings, and stepmother, Susan Williams Jennings, of Evansville. She is also survived by her two mothers-in-law, Janice Kendjoria Ranieri, of Terra Alta, and Michelle Lavelle, of Brenham, Texas. Berry is also survived by her only sibling, her favorite sister, Brandy Jennings Shrout and husband Preston Shrout, and nephews, Sam and John Shrout, of Kingwood; a sister-in-law, Kimberly Ranieri and husband Scott Farmer; and niece, Abby Farmer, of Boerne, Texas. And she is also survived by her numerous friends, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Berry was preceded in death by her fur babies, Duncan and Foster; her father-in-law, Richard Ranieri, of Annapolis, Md.; a brother-in-law, Nicholas Paul Ranieri I, of Terra Alta, and grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. And the grandmother, of whom she adored and had a special bond, Alice Borys Kendjoria.
The family will receive friends at The Kingwood Funeral Home, 295 S. Price St., Kingwood, from 11 a.m. until the time of the service at 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, with Pastor Mike Delligatti officiating.
Family request that memorial donations be made in Berry’s name to https://gofund.me/4e3c205e to help the family or to the Preston County Humane Society, PO Box 395, Kingwood, WV 26537.
Condolences:
www.kingwoodfuneralhome.com
