Wilma Washburne

She was born in Jackson, Michigan, on January 26, 1925, to Audrey and Ara B. Ford. During high school and after graduating, she worked for Western Union as a switchboard operator. She married Louis B. Washburne on February 10, 1945. They had one daughter, Brenda. The family moved to Ohio in 1956 and eventually settled in Delaware, where Wilma worked for Sunray Stove Company. She later moved to Marysville and worked for the Ohio Reformatory for Women, retiring as the mail room supervisor in 1990. She moved to Hilliard later that year, where she lived for almost thirty years, and she spent her last years living in Delaware with her daughter and son-in-law.

During the 1980s and '90s, she traveled extensively through Europe and the United States, notably visiting the remains of the Berlin Wall shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union and following part of the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon. She also enjoyed a Windjammer cruise through the Caribbean. Wilma loved to cook special meals for company and for her family's birthdays. Pies were her specialty, and she was often asked to make them for events at Columbia Heights United Methodist Church, where she was a member for many years. Wilma loved Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, baseball (especially the Detroit Tigers), Gene Kelly, the Rockettes, and the music of Glenn Miller, Dean Martin, and the Andrews Sisters. She also exchanged letters with many friends, read voraciously, loved to work crossword and jigsaw puzzles, and was a fierce euchre and rummy player, but her favorite activity was spending time with her family. She attended all of her granddaughters' dance and theatre performances as they grew up, and her great-granddaughter was the light of her life for the last two years.

Wilma was preceded in death by her parents; her two brothers and six sisters; her husband, Louis; and her good friend Hubert Hinton. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Steve Wilson; her granddaughters, Madeline and Alicia Wilson, and their partners, Jeremy Southgate and Caleb Jones; her great-granddaughter, Audrielle Wilgate; several nieces and nephews; and her good friend Kathy Wilson.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 2, 2024 at SCHOEDINGER NORTHWEST, 1740 Zollinger Road, Columbus, Ohio 43221, where family will receive friends immediately following the service up until 4:00pm. Please visit www.schoedinger.com to share memories and condolences.