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Velma McWhortor
Velma McWhortor
Posted
Velma Darnell (Morford) McWhortor, age 94, passed away Jan. 8, 2022, in Scottsdale. Born in Garrard, Ky., in 1927, Velma spent her final 41 years in Arizona, 27 of them in Fountain Hills.
Preceded in death by husband, William F. McWhortor, and son, David J. McWhortor, Velma is survived by her sons Michael of Canton, Ga., and Patrick (and Ronda) of Cave Creek, Ariz.; daughter-in-law, Jacki Presnal (Dave) in Mesa; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Velma was an only child of single-parent mother, Anna Stone, who moved to Indianapolis when Velma was eight. Sometime after high school graduation in 1945, she met Bill on a blind date and they married on Dec. 19, 1948. Two sons were born in Indianapolis, a third in South Bend, where Bill and Velma lived until 1973. After seven years in Ohio, they moved to Tempe, Ariz., where Bill set up an electronics business. Velma worked in the business off and on over the years, but most of her years were spent as a homemaker. Bill passed away in 1997, ten years after they built the Fountain Hills home.
Velma loved to read books and was a regular in the Fountain Hills Senior Center Book Club. She was devoted to her family, always attending musical concerts, sporting contests and grandsons’ many theater performances. She was a movie lover and adopted the desert as her home.
She will rest in peace with Bill at the National Memorial Cemetery in north Phoenix. Private services for family will be planned later in the year. Donations in her honor may be made to Arizona Citizens for the Arts.
