Nov 11, 2011 2 min read

Wilma Jean Ankrom, 84, formerly of Waynesburg and Sycamore, died at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, November 3, 2011, in Southmont of Presbyterian SeniorCare, Washington, after being in failing health for the past three years.

She was born September 23, 1927, in Washington, a daughter of the late Robert Lee and Mary Ruth Mounts Hartzell.

Mrs. Ankrom had resided in Sycamore from 1962 until moving to Waynesburg in 1985, and she was a member of the former Bates Fork Baptist Church.

She was a 1945 graduate of Trinity High School.

She was an avid reader and enjoyed cooking and the time spent with her family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Ankrom had been an employee of the former Howard Johnson’s in Washington and Youth Inc. in Waynesburg. She was last employed as a cook on a river barge with Ingram Towing of Paducah, Ky., traveling the Ohio, Tennessee, Monongahela and Mississippi rivers, from 1983 until retiring in 1995.

Surviving are three daughters, Darlene, wife of Bill Bates of Waynesburg, Kimberly, wife of Brian Price of Clarksville, and Bonnie, wife of Kevin Egger of Cecil; three sons, William, husband of Barbara Ankrom of Jefferson, Terry, husband of Tina Ankrom of Streetsboro, Ohio, and Timothy, husband of Brenda Ankrom of Sycamore; a brother, Robert “Salty” Hartzell of Washington; a sister, Barbara, wife of Bill Brenner of Washington; 24 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.

She was expecting her first great-great-grandchild in March 2012.

Deceased, in addition to her parents, are a daughter, Marlene Lough; a son, Robert D. Ankrom; a grandson, Timothy Ankrom; and a brother, Don Hartzell.

The family requests memorial contributions be made to a local American Cancer Society.