Annabelle "Peaches"

Whitthorne

Photo date: 12/02/2014

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Annabelle "Peaches" Whitthorne, 96, of Springfield, Ill., gracefully waltzed into heaven on Tuesday, April 14, 2015, at 12:55 a.m.

Annabelle was born Dec. 2, 1918, in Paris, Tenn., the daughter of Luther A. Fitch and Mary Magdalene "Maggie" Ellis Fitch.

Like "MEMORIES, tucked between the pages of my mind"... Annabelle enjoyed a full and happy life, from life on the farm with ten siblings, attending a one room school house, winning the girls state basketball championship, singing gospel on the radio with her Momma, working in a candy factory, raising her family, competing nationally in ballroom dance, to owning her own businesses until her retirement.

She married her first husband, John Henry Snow. They soon moved to St. Louis, Mo. While John served in WWII, Annabelle raised their son, John Rhea, and did her part in the war effort by sewing U.S. military uniforms, building mortar shells and aerial bombs.

After the war, Annabelle remained in St. Louis, to begin a new life and career working as a sportswear designer and seamstress at St. Louis Mills. She eventually designed and sewed ladies' formal gowns. On a streetcar one day, she ran into her hometown friend, Bert, also in St. Louis to start a new life and career. Eventually, Annabelle married Henry "Bert" Whitthorne in St. Louis. After a lot of traveling and destined for Chicago, they chose to reside in Springfield, Ill. Soon they started their own business, Acme Glass Co., while raising their son, John R. Snow, and daughters, Linda and Jan Whitthorne.

Annabelle attended Brown's Business College to acquire her accounting degree to better run the family business office for Acme Glass Co.

All her life, Annabelle always had a love of music from listening to her Daddy play the fiddle to her Momma singing and playing the banjo. She also had a love for dance and began ballroom dancing. Being an accomplished seamstress, Annabelle designed and made her own ballroom gowns when she began competing for Arthur Murray Studios. Some of her best dancing was rewarded by winning many National Gold, Silver and Bronze awards!

The family enjoyed a beautiful home on Lake Springfield and, though Annabelle seemed to master anything she set her mind to, she never quite mastered water skiing, but loved evening rides and fishing on the pontoon boat with the family.

Later, she solely owned and operated the Pioneer Motel for many years until her retirement. Not one to sit around, she embarked on a new journey in her life... enjoying every day, her way! Her favorite hobbies were growing roses, building cabinets and shelves with the carpentry skills learned from her father, designing and sewing dance gowns and clothes with the skills she learned from her mother, decorating, playing piano, and ballroom dancing, not to mention keeping up with the newest dance moves her grandchildren and great-grandchildren knew, as well as teaching them what she knew. Family functions were always fun watching the younger generation learn dance moves and etiquette from Grandma Annabelle and Grandma Annabelle learning all the new dance moves and teen lingo from them.

Always having a desire to play like her dad, Annabelle also began to play guitar, fiddle and banjo. She attended Lincoln Land Community College for piano duet playing. She was always intrigued with tap dancing and began tap dancing in her 80's, making the SJ-R front page! Annabelle and her siblings remained close, gathering to play a card game known as Pitch, for 3-4 days at a time, at least once a year, in addition to the annual family reunion in Paris, Tenn. It wasn't a game for just anybody. It was a 'sister thing' as she would say. Annabelle had a competitive nature and was very detail-oriented in all she would do. You could say she was a bit of a perfectionist and she wanted nothing but the best for/from her family. She was always supportive, encouraging and seized every opportunity to teach by sharing her knowledge, life stories and lessons learned to enhance her family's lives. She loved her family with all her heart and never let any one of us forget it.

Living a long healthy life from life on the farm to a beautiful home on Lake Springfield, she learned all along the way, from childhood on the farm to dabbling in the computer age and all the stepping stones between. While she enjoyed her hobbies, she had no greater joy than the time she spent with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in their homes, especially when all four generations were together. You always knew there was going to be music, dancing, laughing, teasing and an all-out laugh-fest. Outside of their homes, Annabelle kept up with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren by attending plays, shopping and luncheons, musicals, concerts, races, dances, softball, baseball, hockey games, annual vacations and ocean cruises, as she watched them grow into their lives. Multi-generational trips to Cardinal games and NASCAR, Indy and dirt track car races were fun, too. Annabelle was full of love, positive support and the constant reminder to do your best at everything you do, and maybe a few pointers on how to improve whatever you were doing, too. She always said to stand on your own and stand out from the crowd. Annabelle, no doubt, instilled a good dose of self-esteem into each of the children when she could. She was proud of their accomplishments and never hesitated in letting them know. She had such love and everlasting admiration for her family, we were all reminded at each departure with her last words, "Love you, More!"

She considered herself to be truly blessed and always shared the importance of faith and her love of Our Lord attending Sacred Heart Church and Church of the Little Flower most of her life.

Though she has moved on we are saddened but joyful in knowing she's home in Heaven. Her legacy of love and passionate nature that was instilled into us, is something that each of us will treasure and carry with us, in all we do...until we meet again.

Annabelle was preceded in death by her parents: Luther A. Fitch and Mary Magdalene "Maggie" Ellis Fitch; husbands: John Henry Snow, and Henry B. "Bert" Whitthorne; son, John Rhea Snow; sisters, Violet Fitch Sanders, Mary Judith Allen, Nellie McCord, Florence Marie Bradshaw, Ruth F. Price, Thelma F. Anderson, Lorene Fitch Hicks, and Flora Fitch Burke; brothers, George David Fitch and Charlie A. Fitch; and two infant siblings.

Annabelle is survived by daughters, Linda Whitthorne and Jan Whitthorne; sisters, Vera "Polly" Henson and Joyce Ann Palazzolo; grandsons, sons of John Rhea Snow: Steve, Tony and Todd; great-granddaughter, Stephanie (daughter of Steve); granddaughter, daughter of Linda Whitthorne, Theresa Anne Seiber (Brett); great-grandchildren: Amber (Lukas Janulis), Judson (Alexa Thompson), Jared and Jacob; granddaughter, daughter of Linda Whitthorne, Natalie Anne Spradlin (Ken Norman); great-grandchildren, Clinton and Julianna Belle; several nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and cousins; friends: Grandma Nancy Seiber, with whom Annabelle spent many hours sharing life/family stories, and Jim Heineman, her close companion and music-loving friend of many years.

In accordance with Annabelle's wishes, no services were held.

Wilson Park Funeral Home, 200 E. Main St., Rochester, IL 62563 is serving the Whitthorne family. Visit our online obituary at wilsonparkfuneralhome.com.