Betty Ann Pendergrass Wilson

Betty Ann Pendergrass Wilson was born on August 1, 1945 in Wilmington, Delaware, to the late Marvin W. Pendergrass and Cornelia Mattie Josephine Worthy. She departed this life on January 26, 2020, in Las Vegas, NV, from a sudden illness. Betty was a loving wife, mother, grandma (Poo Poo), and friend to all.

Betty was born in Wilmington and raised in Wilksburg (Chester County), South Carolina and was a member of the Zion Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church. She later moved to Lorain, Ohio, and after graduating from Lorain Clearview High School, she went on to Brooklyn, New York, where she worked as a secretary and bank teller.

Betty moved back to Lorain and was a member of Fairfield Baptist Church, where she was the secretary for many years and sang in the choir. She loved her family and spending time with them at the annual Land Sanders Whiteside Worthy Crosby Family Reunions and visiting family in South Carolina. She worked at Lorain Towel & Supply, at Ford Motor Co. and was part of the first set of women hired in 1972 at the Lorain Assembly Plant, and later transferred to Ford’s Ohio Truck Assembly in Avon, Ohio, and was a proud member of UAW Local 2000 Retirees’ Chapter, retiring in August 2003 after 31 years.

She loved traveling, fishing, taking pictures and helping others during the holidays, making sure that family and friends were always okay, encouraging the younger generation to get good grades by rewarding them when they made the honor roll, listening to music, especially Shirley Caesar, and in her later years, Steve Harvey was her main man while watching her TV shows.

She was preceded in death by her late husband, Columbus Haywood Wilson; parents, Marvin and Cornelia Pendergrass; brother, Matthew (Shirley) Pendergrass; step-daughter, Victoria Walden; and special family, Linda Mahone, Hattie Jeter, and Cleo Hoskins.

She is survived by her son, Howard (Enga) Nelson Jr., of Las Vegas, NV; daughter, Vicki (Steven) Pendergrass White, of Las Vegas, NV, Columbus Wilson, of Lorain, Ohio; granddaughter, Shante (Willis) Hamilton, of Lorain, Ohio; grandsons, Dontiez Pendergrass Sr., of Atlanta, Georgia, Reginald Weatherington Jr., Howard Nelson III, Marvin Nelson, Kela Wilson, all of Las Vegas, NV, Andre Massey, of Lorain, Ohio; great-grandsons, Dontiez Pendergrass Jr., Charley and Zachary, Reginald Weatherington III, of Las Vegas, NV; brother, Herbert Willie Pendergrass, of Las Vegas, NV; a great aunt, Sarah Walker, of Lorain, Ohio; special family, Anita Hardy and Jessie Worthy; along with a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives.

Viewing will be Saturday, February 1, from 11 a.m. until time of homegoing service at 12 p.m. at Brown-Robinson Funeral Home, 2652 Broadway Ave., Lorain, OH 44052.