Ann T. Belote

Ann Belote entered into the presence of her Savior Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023, at the age of eighty-eight years old. Born on December 6, 1934 in Newlin, West Virginia, she was the last of eight children born to Mary Ann Cecelia Binns Thomas and Harry Pentreath Thomas, Sr. Raised in Oak Hill, West Virginia, she attended Collins High School and was a member of the orchestra and the marching band for five years, playing the clarinet. Ann was elected to be on the May Queen court twice and she was chosen to represent her high school at Girls State. She was a dancer and ballerina throughout her high school years.

Ann met Tharpe DeWitt Belote, Jr. in Jacksonville, Florida while they both attended Jacksonville Junior College. In June of 1955, Ann and Tharpe married in Jacksonville, where they had four children together: Elizabeth, Mary Tereasa, Patricia, and DeWitt. Tharpe and Ann resided in Jacksonville for thirteen years before moving to Orlando, Florida, where they have lived for the past fifty-two years. They have been active members of St. Michael's church and served as volunteers over the years.

When her children were young, Ann was a homemaker and stay-at-home mom. Later she worked at Montgomery Ward in the accounting department and was soon promoted to management at the regional level. Ann then became a general manager for Sam's Club where she travelled to Greenville, South Carolina, Gainesville, Florida and Ocala, Florida to establish and run new Sam's Clubs. Even though she worked full-time for years, Ann made time to invest in her children's extracurricular activities from being a den mother for DeWitt's Cub Scouts to teaching ballet to Patricia's gymnastic team. After retiring at age sixty, Ann and Tharpe enjoyed travelling in the United States and abroad with family and friends.

Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Mary Ann Cecelia Binns Thomas and Harry Pentreath Thomas, Sr. (WV), her brothers Harry Pentreath Thomas, Jr. (WV), William Binns Thomas (WV), Edward Wallace Thomas (WV), her sisters Doris May Thomas Latham (SC), Edna Marguerite Thomas Taylor (SC), Jean Elizabeth Thomas (WV), and Kathleen Althea Thomas Ragsdale (CA). Ann was survived by her husband of sixty-seven years, Tharpe DeWitt Belote, Jr., her daughters Ann Elizabeth Belote Tarner (Mick), Mary Tereasa Belote Greene (George), Patricia Eileen Belote Hall (Brett), and her son Tharpe DeWitt Belote, III (Almut). Ann has eleven grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and one great, great grandchild.