Anne Macrum Elder

Anne Macrum Elder, 91, of Salem, Va., and formerly of Wilmington, N.C., died on Sunday, June 20, 2010. Anne was born in Oakmont, Pa., on January 24, 1919. She graduated from Towson High School in Maryland in 1937 and studied piano at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Towson State Teachers College in 1943 and taught school in Harford County, Md. Called to serve her country, Anne joined the Navy as a Wave and became an aerologist, serving at Dahlgren Proving Ground, VA and the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla. She then became a meteorologist for the Baltimore Weather Bureau and was commissioned a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the United States Naval Reserve, reaching the rank of Commander before retirement. Anne also studied at Florida State University and served at weather stations in Honolulu, Hawaii, Wilmington, N.C., Spartanburg, S.C., Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Neenah, Wis., where she became the first female Meteorologist in Charge in the Northwest Central region. In 1973, Anne received a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal "in recognition of continued outstanding meteorological service to the residents of eastern North Carolina." She retired as Weather Service and Radar Specialist at the Weather Service Office in Wilmington, N.C., in 1977. She was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church choir in Wilmington and enjoyed entertaining many nieces and nephews at Wrightsville Beach. In 2002, Anne moved to the Roanoke Valley to be closer to her sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Tom Orville and their family. She was preceded in death by her parents, George Howard Elder and Anna Macrum Elder; a brother, George Elder; and a sister, Lois Young. Survivors include her brothers, Robert Elder, of Huntingdon, Pa., and Thomas Elder, of Norfolk, Mass.; sisters, Susan Malcolm, of Niskayuna, N.Y., and Mary Orville, of Roanoke, Va.; eight nieces; seven nephews; 15 great-nieces; 17 greatnephews; three great-greatnieces; and two greatgreat-nephews. A Memorial Service will be held 11 a.m. on Friday, June 25, 2010, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Salem. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Snyder Nursing Home, 11 N. Broad St., Salem, Va. 24153.