98th Birthday — Laura Marie Pankey

LIMA — Laura Marie Pankey, of Lima, will celebrate her 98th birthday June 5, 2012. A party was held June 2, at Springview Manor Nursing Home with cake and ice cream. A second celebration will be held at Noon, June 6, 2012, at Golden Corral, in Lima.Pankey was born June 5, 1914 in Pikesville, Tenn. to Elder James and Fannie Swafford. On Nov. 20, 1937, she married the Rev. Reedval Pankey, and he died in March of 1996.She had one daughter, Anna E. Jones, and she is deceased. She raised her five grandchildren, Cheryl T. Jones, of Carlisle, Penn., Karen L. Jones, of Troy, Craig L. Jones, of Phoenix, Ariz., Trent S. Jones and Chandra “Lucy” Burke, both of Lima.Pankey worked for Lynn and Jane Timmerman until she retired.She is a member of Beulah’s Chapel, Mt. Zion Holy Union Church of God, where she has been a member for more than 50 years. Pankey is the oldest member of her church organization. She still loves to sing, read her Bible and is not ashamed to let you know she loves the Lord. She has always been energetic, loves people and spent her life working in the church.