Dana “Rochelle” Spivey Dannelly, 69, native of Pensacola, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home on Thursday, April 23, 2026. She was surrounded by family who had kept vigil throughout the night. Rochelle spent most of her life here with a few stints in Atlanta and New Orleans.

Rochelle was born to Walter Clarence Spivey, Jr. & Romaine Sanchez Spivey on November 26, 1956, and grew up in Warrington in a neighborhood of kids. She attended St. Thomas More Catholic School and Pensacola Catholic High and was a member of the class that graduated in 1974. She always was the “Free Spirit” and middle sister.

If her name sounds familiar, perhaps she waited on you for years at some of Pensacola’s favorite eateries - Jerry’s Drive-In, The Coffee Cup, Sam’s Seafood or perhaps she became your friendly ‘Lucky Cab’ driver. She was good at what she did and had great interaction with all of her customers.

She had quite the legacy to keep up with. She loved and supported her children and grandchildren the best way that she could, including being the first of her sisters to be a great-grandmother!

As years progressed, she was diagnosed with COPD which limited her abilities to continue everything she loved to do but didn’t completely stop her. If she was here, she would say “Please don’t smoke”. It was her diagnosis of ALS (popularly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) that eventually did that. Gradually, over a period of about 1 ½ years, she got worse. She fought physically to do whatever she could do every day, beginning with losing her voice and she became a master at texting. ALS takes away the ability of your brain to tell your muscles what to do so little by little she lost control of her body. However, she maintained the ability to get our attention by swinging her little wooden back scratcher at us if she was unhappy at what we were doing! She asked for a metal one, but we wouldn’t fulfill that wish in fear for our lives! Fortunately, her last motor skill working was her right hand where she could type her text to us for help or a message.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her daughter, Crystal Owens; a granddaughter, Macie Gilliand; ex-husbands, Richard Owens and David Dannelly; son-in-law, Anthony Grim and brother-in-law, Tim Bonifay.

Rochelle is survived by her children, Kelly Shiver Grim and Christopher Shiver; her two sisters, Roxanne Spivey Bonifay and Rhonda Spivey Pulley (Ronnie); grandchildren, Rebecca Grim Wood (Kody), Courtney Grim Gilliand (Devon), James Fennel (Emma), Albert Roberts, McKenzie & Chase Shiver, Daniel & Daelyn Fine; great-grandchildren, Kaiden, Oliver & Emily Wood, Sawyer & Asher Gilliand, Kenneth, Lachlan & Christopher Williams, Benjamin Lambert and Ember Fennel; as well as many beloved Spivey cousins and her nieces and nephews - both here and far away.

A visitation will be held from 1:00pm until a memorial service begins at 2:00pm Thursday, May 14, 2026, at Hillcrest Baptist Church (Heritage Hall), 800 E. Nine Mile Rd., Pensacola, FL. Following the services, please join us at the reception hosted by her Bible Study group.

Special thank you to the two young men she helped mentor back to a good life. John & Tyler provided help that made her life more comfortable at home. May they continue on their good life’s path. Also special thanks to the women in her Hillcrest Baptist Church Bible Study Class which brought her closer to Christ and to the person she tried to emulate the last many years of her life. She was excited to participate every week as long as she could and when she couldn’t they continued to give her their support. She watched many sermons online.

Rochelle would not have been able to remain at home without so much additional help, including that of her son Chris who stayed with her during the day and her grandson Daniel who took the night shift…both of them holding down jobs when not with her. But the biggest reason she was able to remain home per her wishes, was the remarkable staff and love of her Gentiva Hospice team made up of Amanda her RN, Rene her CNA, Michelle her Social Worker and the great local Gentiva Hospice office staff. We can’t thank them enough for the love and care you provided her and we know she appreciated everything you did for her.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Team Gleason Foundation (who furnishes equipment and help to ALS patients with no charge – like Rochelle), PO Box 24493, New Orleans, LA 70184 (https://teamgleason.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donate) or to the local Gentiva Hospice, 7282 Plantation Rd, Ste 302, Pensacola, FL 32504 or to the HBC Venettozzi Class (Bible Study), to help them continue their good work, 800 E. Nine Mile Rd., Pensacola, FL 32514.

Thank you for caring about our sister as much as she cared about you.