Anna Rolfe

ROLFE, Mrs. Anna Mae, 83, died Saturday, May 22, 2010, at the Fitzgerald Health Center at Arbor Acres of Winston- Salem from complications following a stroke. Anna Mae was the last of six children born to William and Annie Bloxton of Richmond, Va., where she grew up. Anna Mae was in a hurry to grow up, and while in high school took an after-school job as a secretary/receptionist at Thalhimer's Department Store in downtown Richmond. She was at her desk in 1943 when a handsome Army Air Corps officer, a former Thalhimer's employee, stopped by to visit his former boss. Anna Mae chatted with him about the ribbons and insignia on his uniform and, while he went in to talk with her boss, slipped her phone number into a book he had left on her desk. "It was wartime, you know, and people always said we should be nice to and talk to the soldiers," she later explained. She married 1st Lieutenant William A. Rolfe in the living room of her parent's home before the year was out, although they insisted she graduate from high school first. Anna Mae and Bill enjoyed 57 years of marriage, raising two sons and a daughter. Bill's career as a store manager with W.T. Grants took them through numerous cities, including Winston-Salem, where Bill opened stores in Parkway Plaza and Reynolda Manor, while Anna Mae cared for the children at home before returning to work as a secretary for a succession of doctors. They finished their working lives as realtors in Richmond, and retired to Winston-Salem in 1999. Anna Mae was preceded in death by her daughter, Diana Lee Rolfe; her husband, Bill; daughter-in-law, Ann Randolph Leake Rolfe; and four of her siblings. She is survived by her sons, David G. Rolfe of Winston-Salem, and Paul Bloxton Rolfe of Raleigh, N.C. and his wife, Linda Farrell Rolfe. Also surviving are David's daughters, Eleanor Rolfe, Susan Rolfe and Sally Rolfe; and Paul's daughters, Rebecca Boone Rolfe and Elizabeth Rolfe Hill and her husband, Marshall Hill of Raleigh. A funeral service will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 2 p.m. with interment in the Dalton Memorial Garden and a reception to follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Anna's name to Arbor Acres United Methodist Retirement Community or the Hospice CareCenter. Salem Funeral Home is assisting the Rolfe family. The family extends special thanks and gratitude to the superb and caring staff at Arbor Acres, all of whom treated our mother with dignity, respect and kindness every day she was there.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.