Rocky Mount -
Anzy Lanie Wells died Sunday, December 3, 2023, at Nash UNC Health Care after an extended illness. Anne, as she was known to her family, was born on September 13, 1949, at Park View Hospital in Rocky Mount. She was an only child who was doted on by her parents, Benjamin Spruill Wells and Anzy Lanie Gaskill Turner, her grandparents George and Annie Gaskill, and her aunts, Hazel and Mabel Wells.
Anne moved to Portsmouth, VA with her mother in the 1950s and remained there until moving to Washington, D.C. in the 1970s. Anne spent many happy years living independently in Washington as a successful free-lance writer. She loved the anonymity of living in the city and was an avid supporter of the Democratic party. Anne was very intelligent, extremely talented, and possessed a dry wit. She had a big heart for all of God’s four-legged creatures with cats being her favorite. She provided loving care for her feline friends over the years.
Anne is survived by several first cousins: Gail Batchelor, Deborah Gaskill, Gay Lytton, Gilda Aita, Kelly Gaskill, and Kemp Gaskill. They will fondly remember many special times spent with Anne at family gatherings at their grandmother’s house on Arlington Street in Rocky Mount and her mother’s house in Portsmouth.
A private family burial will take place at Pineview Cemetery on Friday, December 8.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Anne’s memory to Animal Crackers, PO Box 8860, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.
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