ROSE ANN LOFTON

Rose Ann was born on Saturday, June 17, 1950 at the Ohio Valley General Hospital, Wheeling, WV, the eldest of two daughters born to the late John (1912-1977) and Stella Dorothy (Salva) Kurko (1916-1986). She was the granddaughter of the late Zachary Charles (1878-1954) and Justina (Trusz) Kurko (1886-1933) and of Phillip (1881-1962) and Caroline (Tesluk) Salva (1881-1958).

Rose Ann lived her whole life in Bellaire, Ohio on the same street in two different houses. She was reared in the home that her father was reared in, and she lived with her grandfather Zachary Kurko until his death when she was four years old. She attended Indian Run Elementary and Grade School and was a 1968 graduate of Bellaire High School. She worked at Murphy’s Department Store in Bellaire for a short while until she landed a job at the Belmont Federal Savings & Loan Association (later Belmont Savings Bank) in Bellaire, where she worked as a teller and later a savings manager from 1968 until 2019 – retiring after 51 ¢ years. She also worked a second job for a while at Macy’s Department Store in St. Clairsville with her son Zack.

She was a Catholic by faith and was a lifetime member of the St. John Roman Catholic Church in Bellaire.

Rose Ann was blessed to have traveled to the Caribbean islands of St. Thomas and St. Martin, Hawaii, and Las Vegas, NV; just to name a few places. She also went with her son Zack to the Outer Banks in North Carolina in 2020. In 1971 she was crowned district Queen — Miss Southeastern Ohio with the Czechoslovak Society of America (CSA).

She was an excellent cook, a hard worker, a faithful granddaughter, daughter, and daugh- ter-in-law, a loyal sister and sister-in-law; a committed niece and aunt, a dedicated wife, a steadfast mother, and ever-loving grandmother. She had a smile that would light up the room; a love for her family that death cannot take away. We are devastated, and our lives changed forever.

In addition to her parents and grand- parents, she was preceded in death by a step-son Kelly Lee Lofton on August 10, 1989; a nephew Justin Michael Paliswat on September 26, 2021; her beloved father and mother-in-law, Samuel Clinton (1921-2008) and Sarah Virginia (Mozingo) Lofton, Sr. (1923-2019); her brothers-in-law, Samuel C. Lofton, Jr. in 2021, and Frank C. Paliswat in 2023; many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

Rose Ann is survived by her loving husband of over 38 years, Danny Lee “Dan” Lofton, whom she married December 21, 1985 at the West Bridgeport United Methodist Church in Bridgeport; her sons Benjamin Maxwell Lofton of Martins Ferry and Zachary John Lofton of Bellaire; her granddaughter Taylor Dane Lofton of Martins Ferry; her sister Mary Catherine Elaine Paliswat of Shadyside; sister-in-law Della Ann Lofton of North Ridgeville, Ohio; nephews; a niece; a niece-in-law; grandnephews; grandnieces; cousins and friends, especially her long- time friend Sherry Artman of Millersburg, Ohio, and Marty Wilson of Bridgeport, Ohio.

Rose Ann and Dan took care of many different elderly friends and relatives in the past years. The love they had for so many people will forever be remembered.

Friends will be received on Sunday from 2-6pm at the Wilson Funeral Home, 920 National Road, Brookside, OH. Friends will again be received Monday, March 4, 2024 from 10am until time of services at 11am with Father Daniel Heusel officiating. Interment will follow at Weeks Cemetery, Sunset Heights, Bridgeport, Ohio. Memorial contributions may be made to givea hand.com. To express online condolences, please visit www.wil- sonfuneral homes.com.