Anna May Schwaninger

Anna May Jones Schwaninger of Trappe, MD, passed away quietly at her home on October 1, 2012, at the age of 96. She was born February 14, 1916, on Wye Island, MD, where her father, James Marion Jones, worked on the Paca family estate. Her mother was Maggie Mae Whitby Jones. Anna May was one of six children (Mary Katherine, Marion Lee, Naomi Blanche Covey, all deceased) and is survived by two sisters, Marion Doris Schwaninger of Trappe and Ida Ruth Crouse of Denton, MD. She was married for 76 years to Eugene Spedden Schwaninger (deceased June 1, 2012). Anna May and Eugene had known each other as classmates in school and were married at the Easton Church of Brethren on December 25, 1935. She has three children, Charles Marion Schwaninger and Ruth Ann Schwaninger Clendaniel of Trappe, and Thomas Tyler Schwaninger of Los Angeles, CA. Additionally, she is survived by four grandchildren, Charles Wolfgang Schwaninger, Holly Clendaniel Musselman, Gena Clendaniel Levy, and Kathleen Georganna Clendaniel; and seven great-grandchildren, all living in Maryland. She and her husband owned Milton Farm located on Llandaff Road (now Cooke’s Hope at Llandaff) for 30 years. She always found farm life very satisfying and rewarding with the view that being close to nature helped calm one’s soul. This is what she tried to teach her children. Anna May looked forward to spending the winters in Arcadia, FL, with family and friends. She also enjoyed traveling later in life and went on trips to Europe, Asia, Mexico and New Zealand. The trips to Germany were to visit with close friends, the Knoedler family. This relationship began when German prisoners taken in World War II were brought to Talbot County to work on local farms. Anna May and her husband continued to correspond with one of these young men, Hans Knoedler, after the war and later visited with the family in Mainz, Germany. Anna May served on the Board of Directors of the Talbot Agricultural Center, was president of the Talbot County Council of Homemakers and a director of the Farm Bureau’s Woman’s Committee. She was a charter member of the White Marsh Homemakers Club since its origin in 1940. She worked for Talbot County Public Schools as a library assistant, cafeteria worker, and school bus driver. She was a lifetime member of the Easton Church of the Brethren where she taught Sunday School and volunteered as a counselor at Camp Mardela. In 1970, she was named “Woman of the Week” by the Star Democrat newspaper. A visitation will be held at Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home on 200 S. Harrison Street in Easton from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 7. A funeral service will be held at the Easton Church of the Brethren, 412 S. Harrison Street, at 11 a.m. on Monday, October 8. Burial will follow in White Marsh Cemetery on Route 50 and Manadier Road with a reception at the family home immediately afterwards. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Easton Church of the Brethren.

Anna May Schwaninger

February 14, 1916 - October 1, 2012