Clara A. Ackerman

Clara A. Ackerman (nee Bridgewater) of Advance Mills, Virginia, passed away on December 10, 2018, at the age of 97, from the complications of a stroke suffered in September. She was born near Koblenz, Germany in 1921. Her father, Sidney Bridgewater, a "Yankee Doughboy" of the United States Army, stationed in Germany after World War I married Katherine Steffeslai, both deceased. Clara arrived in the United States as a months old baby. She was predeceased by her sister, Catherine; and brothers, Sidney and Alfred. Mrs. Ackerman was married to her husband, George R. Ackerman for over 78 years who died at the age of 98 in 2015. She is survived by her son, George L. Ackerman of Advance Mills and his wife, Sharon, and her daughter, Clara C. Zauner and her late husband James, also of Advance Mills. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Dr. Karen Ackerman Wyman and her husband, Dr. James of Gig Harbor, of Washington, Jennifer Zauner Fetsko and her husband, John, of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, Cynthia Zauner Leeds and her husband, Jeff, of Canton, Georgia, Kenneth Zauner of Advance Mills, Virginia, Pamela Zauner Frazier and her husband, Keith, of Weddington, North Carolina, and Kathleen Ackerman Ricks and her husband, Brad, of Midlothian, Virginia; and 14 great-grandchildren, Rebecca, James, Cameron and Julia Wyman, Austin and Hunter Fetsko, Daniel, Lauren and John Leeds, Seth, Kyle and Peyton Frazier and Silas and Caleb Ricks. Mrs. Ackerman attended schools in New Jersey and after marrying George R. in 1937 raised a family, enjoyed homemaking, gardening and family gatherings. Upon her husband's retirement from Prudential Insurance Company they moved from Butler, New Jersey to Advance Mills, Virginia in 1983 where she lived for 35 years. Mrs. Ackerman was a reserved, kind and intelligent person keeping up with the latest nutritional and health information whom every one of us who knew her respected and loved. Visitation will be held Friday, December 14, 2018, from 6 until 8 p.m. at Hill and Wood Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 15, 2018, at Hill and Wood Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Holly Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mrs. Ackerman's memory to the SPCA, P.O. Box 7047, Charlottesville, VA 22906, or to St Jude Children's Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 (www.stjude.org.) Friends may send condolences to her family at www.hillandwood.com.