Anna May (Neff) Whittington, 101, one of eight children of George Ellsworth Metta Katrine (Hansen) Neff, was born November 13, 1916 in Cotesfield, NE.
The family moved to Auburn, when Anna was young, and later Nemaha and Shubert. Anna attended school in Nemaha through junior high, and went to high school in Shubert. On March 12, 1934, Anna was married to Murell Whittington in Hiawatha, Kansas. They were blessed with four sons and three daughters, and were married 71 years at the time of Murell’s death on September 20, 2005.
After her youngest child started school, Anna worked as a cook and cafeteria manager at Southeast Nebraska Consolidated School in Stella. Anna May was a long-time member of the South Auburn Church of Christ. She always kept busy, whether it be drying flowers, making pictures, or sewing quilts. She was featured at a One-Woman Quilt Show at Peru State College when she was 96 years old. In her later years, Anna May moved to Long’s Creek Assisted Living in Auburn and then Good Samaritan Society-Auburn. It was at Good Sam that she passed away on Sunday, November 26, 2017, 13 days after celebrating her 101st birthday.
In addition to her husband and her parents, she is preceded in death by her sons Robert and Dennis, daughter Lois Martin, and siblings Walter Neff, Harold Neff, Mabel Pearson Nelson, Alice Bauer Dahl, Hazel Schultz Crouse, Myrtle Vice, and Melvin Neff.
Anna May is survived by her children and their spouses Larry and Carol of Portland, OR; Mary and Kerry Walden of Lincoln; Amy and Dan Dalton of Lincoln; Roy of Auburn; daughter-in-law Ellin of Saragosa, TX; numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
A funeral service was held Friday, December 1, 2017 at Hemmingsen Funeral Home in Auburn, officiated by Ken Pounders. Rich Maine was musical leader for congregational singing. Casket bearers were Andy Perry, Rich Maine, Wayne Shafer, Walt Harring, and Kevin Wheeler. Burial was in Prairie Union Cemetery near Shubert, with special memories by Wayne Shafer.
