Obituaries – Their Stories Live On

Mrs. Ann Katherine Scott was born on April 1, 1937, in Tams, West Virginia, to Lewis and Sarah Haskins. She was the eldest of eleven siblings (Delores, Marian, Joyce, Anita, Nancy, Peggy, Robert, William, Stanley, and Charles).

Ann grew up surrounded by both her paternal (The Jackson/Haskins) and maternal (The Lawsons) families in this coal mine town. She was an early graduate from Byrd-Prillerman High School at the age of 16 and went on to work to help her family as a clerk at the local hospital.

Ann, after several years, with her cousin, Evelyn Simpson, decided to relocate to New York where they found employment in the service industry.

Ann met William Robert Leon Scott, affectionately known as “Pig” when she was a child. Pig was from Beckley and was well loved by all of Ann’s brothers, sisters, and parents. However, when she was growing up, Ann thought of him as a nuisance. In his early 20's, Pig joined the Air Force and moved away. It was not until he returned to Beckley on vacation, that Ann realized that the boy whom she thought of as a “nuisance” was actually the love of her life. Pig’s courtship of Ann was helped along by Ann’s uncle and Pig’s best friend, Stephen “Steve” Lawson.

On November 18, 1960, Pig and Ann were married in New York City. As the wife of a member of the armed services, Ann traveled the country and the world. They lived on Air Force bases in Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Germany, and England. Ann’s favorite place to live was in Amsterdam, Holland, where her love of tulips began.

Upon his retirement from the Air Force, Pig and Ann briefly lived in Oklahoma where Pig worked for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In 1976, they returned to Beckley, West Virginia with their four children, William Jr, (Tim), Joyce (Millie), Cornelius (Ron) and Yvonne. Pig became the shop steward for the United States Postal Service. Ann supported him in this endeavor and they both became very active in the Democratic party and the NAACP. Their activism led to them traveling to several Democratic conventions.

Additionally, during this time, the family became members of Ann’s family’s church, Central Baptist. Her parents (Lewis and Sarah Haskins) were deacon and deaconess, along with her aunt and uncle (Joseph and Cecelia Thomas). All of the Scott children accepted Christ and were baptized here. Ann’s grandmother, Henrietta Lawson, her mother, Sarah Haskins, both of her aunts, Cecilia Thomas and Dulcina Gilbert, could be found on any Sunday service seated in back-to-back rows in the front of the church. Ann and her family always sat in the third row from the back row. They thought she did so because she was late. In fact, she deliberately sat in the back because it gave her a view of everything that was going on.

Ann was a homemaker and an avid seamstress. For several years, she made clothes for herself and her two daughters for church, school, and special occasions. To quote her daughter Joyce, “Our most beautiful clothes were the ones that our mother made for us.” This great seamstress rarely wore the same outfit to church twice.

In 2016, Ann realized she could no longer live alone and moved to Pine Lodge Nursing Home in Beckley. She enjoyed the company of people of her own age. It must be noted that she was well loved and will be sorely missed by the staff and residents of Pine Lodge.

Ann was known for her quick and dry wit and she loved to dance. She always stated that she had to be dressed for any occasion, whether it be for breakfast or a planned outing. Ann Scott was always the Belle of the Ball!

Ann is preceded in death by her husband William (Pig), parents (Lewis and Sarah Haskins), siblings, Delores, Joyce, Nancy, Robert, Marion, Charles, and Anita; as well as her sons, Cornelius and William Jr., and her grandson, Brian.

Ann leaves behind to mourn her siblings, William, Stanley and Peggy; children, Joyce (West Hempstead, NY) and Yvonne (Greensboro, NC); grandchildren, Joseph (Natalie), Ciara (Brandon), Cecilia, Aaron, Amanda, and Jaden; great-granddaughters, Naiyah and Skylar and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Ann loved her children immensely and always held them as close to her as possible. Upon his death, Cornelius had requested that his remains be placed with his mother. Sadly, on September 4, 2021, William, Jr. passed. The family believes that it is befitting to place his remains with her as well. The three of them will rest in eternal peace as a family.

Funeral service will be 12:00PM Thursday, Septrmber 16, 2021 at Heart of God Ministries 1703 S. Kanawha St. Beckley with Rev. Franklin Hairston officiating. Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Park, Beckley.

Email condolences to ritchie-johnson@suddenlinkmail.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Ritchie & Johnson Funeral Parlor, Beckley.