Mrs. Anne Ashworth Speegle, age 96, of Florence, passed away Monday, October 24, 2011.
The funeral service will be Friday at 2:00 p.m. at the Elkins Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Tommy James officiating. He will be assisted by Rev. Mike Nash and Rev. Marshall Anderson. Music will be provided by Billiejo Wood, Elaine Poorman, Myra Brown and Patricia Haddock. Visitation will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow in Tri-Cities Memorial Gardens.
Anne was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee, on January 12, 1915 to Viola Belle Cobb and William Johnson Ashworth.
She graduated from Martha Berry School for Girls at Mt. Berry, Georgia in 1934. At that time she received the Walker Prize for being the young lady in the senior class designated by the faculty for "general excellence," and received a scholarship at Berry College for being the senior girl who led her class in scholarship. For a period of time, she lived at Oak Hill, the home of Miss Martha Berry, the founder of Berry College, as a companion and assistant to Miss Berry.
Anne was teaching school on the small island of Ozello, near Homosassa, Florida, when she met and married her beloved husband, the Rev Thomas Howard Speegle, in 1936. During their 67 years of marriage, they served a number of churches in Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi.
Her father, the Rev. William J. Ashworth, was a Methodist minister who was the pastor of churches in Florida and North Carolina during his many years as a pastor.
Anne loved to write and published several articles and books of inspiration and humor.
Mrs. Speegle is survived by a daughter Mildred Wright and husband Bill of Florence; son William Howard Speegle and wife Janette of Huntsville; grandchildren Paul Howard Wright and wife Charity of Huntsville, William Neal Wright and wife Juanita of Florence, William Michael Speegle and wife Dana of Atlanta and Jonathan Howard Speegle and wife Viktoria of California; great grandchildren Thomas William Wright, Andrew Sims Wright, Ana Katharina Wright, Nathanael Evan Wright, Nicholas Anthony Speegle, Spartak Atanasov Dimitrov and Sean Michael Speegle; sister Dorothy Russell of Daytona Beach, Florida; nieces Linda Anne Johnson and Tamara Baggett; nephew Phillip DiBona; sister-in-law Rosalyn Ashworth..
She was preceded in death by her husband, the Rev. Thomas Howard Speegle, two brothers William James Ashworth and Phillip Ashworth, step-brothers Dr. William E. Darby and Dr. John F. Darby; step-sisters Katherine McCamy, Dorothy Braziel and Dilla Brandt.
Pallbearers will be Paul Howard Wright, William Neal Wright, Jonathan Howard Speegle and William Michael Speegle. Honorary bearers will be Robert Cobb, Billy Davis, Dan Wood and Jimmy Haney.
In lieu of flowers, please consider memorials to the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library.