Johannah Whitcome

May 12, 1936 - May 19, 2011

Johannah Warlow Whitcome, 75, of Lakewood, N.Y., died peacefully at 2:19 A.M. Saturday (May 14, 2011) in the Manor at Market Square Assisted Living Center in Reading, Pa, surrounded by her loving family. She was born May 12, 1936 in Escanaba, Michigan. Since her father was an officer in the U.S. Army, much of her early childhood was spent traveling throughout the United States. She lived in Hawaii, Chicago, and Philadelphia, until eventually settling in Lakewood, N.Y., where she spent the balance of her childhood. Upon graduating from Southwestern High School, she attended Kent State University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Jamestown Community College. Johannah, who always enjoyed working with numbers, was employed as a payroll clerk at Carborundum Corporation, and then as an examiner with Chautauqua County, retiring in 1998. After retiring, she went south for the winters. She spent the winter months in Englewood, Florida on Manasota Key. It was there that she developed a great passion of scouring the beach for sharks? teeth. Johannah had many other passions in life, including playing pinochle with the gang, traveling at home and abroad, reading, doing puzzles, and taking occasional trips to the casino. Her greatest passions were the health and welfare of animals, both large and small, and her grandson, Alejandro. Johannah was preceded in death by her father, the late Loren Warlow, and her mother, Ethel Rogerson Warlow, both of Lakewood, N.Y. She is survived by her daughter, Kathryn McClendon of Fort Worth, Tex.; her sons: Steve John and his wife Lisa of Lafayette, La., and Adam John and his wife Marie Melendez and their son Alejandro of Reading, Pa. She is also survived by her sister, Marcia Warlow Sterk and her husband Leo Sterk of Beloit, Wisconsin. The funeral will be at 11:30 A.M. Thursday in Powers, Present & Sixbey Funeral Home. The Rev. Gerald Haglund will officiate. Burial will be in Lake View Cemetery. The family will receive friends for two hours prior to the funeral service Thursday in the funeral home. To send a message to the family, visit www.presentsixbeyfuneral.com. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her name to Noah?s Ark Exotic Animal Sanctuary, 8428 Bedell Rd., Berlin Center, Ohio 44401.