Anna Walton Myers

Myers—Anna Walton Myers, 86, on April 5, 2025, surrounded by family, at Kendal-Crosslands retirement community in Kennett Square, Pa. Born Anna Walton on July 26, 1938, Anna was the only daughter and youngest child of Frank Pusey Walton and Helen Stephens Walton. She grew up in the village of London Grove, Pa., on a farm where generations of her family have lived since 1827. She was raised a member of London Grove Meeting. Anna’s father and uncle ran a dairy operation and greenhouses where they cultivated roses and other flowers destined for Philadelphia and Baltimore. Anna spent long hours as a child playing with her cousin, Peggy Walton, and was affectionately nicknamed “Sister” by her older brothers, David and Dick (and later “Aunt Sister” by her nephews and nieces). During the Second World War, Anna’s family hosted Gakuji “Skippy” Mizuki, a Japanese American teenager, while his family was interned in California. Throughout his life thereafter, Skippy sent Anna almonds at Christmas which were grown on his California farm.

After her graduation from Unionville High School (and being coronated Harvest Queen at the 1954 Unionville Community Fair), Anna attended nursing school at Reed Memorial Hospital in Richmond, Ind., graduating as a registered nurse, and a year later completed her bachelor of science in nursing at Earlham College, also in Richmond. There, she met her husband, Mark Myers of Winchester, Ind. They married under the care of London Grove Meeting in 1959. While still living in Richmond, Anna and Mark started their family, which eventually grew to three sons and a daughter. After four years living in State College, Pa., where Mark attended graduate school, the family moved to the Rochester, N.Y. area in 1964. Anna was a member of Rochester Meeting throughout those years. She and her family were actively involved in the life of the meeting, including serving as co-clerk together with Mark for a time. In addition to her years in Rochester, she spent a four-year period in Oakville, Ontario, when the family moved there, returning again to Rochester in 1979. In the 1980s, Anna was involved in the Sanctuary Movement in Rochester, helping to provide support to families who were fleeing war in Central America.

Anna and Mark returned to live in London Grove in 1990. Among other projects, Anna oversaw the restoration of an eighteenth-century farmhouse that stood on family land, which became her cherished home for many years. She entertained grandchildren and family members and enjoyed the beauty of her carefully tended gardens. She served on the West Marlborough Township Planning Commission for 16 years, and served as calendar keeper and on the Memorial Committee of London Grove Meeting. She often volunteered her presence when non-Quaker groups used the meetinghouse for their events, thus enabling others to utilize the historic building and grounds. Her relationships with her nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews were a source of joy for her, and as the longest living member of her immediate family, Anna served as a bridge to past generations of her family who lived in London Grove.

In her later years, Anna confronted increasing health problems that impacted her sight and mobility, but she accepted these challenges with the humor and strength of spirit with which she lived her life. She resided at Kendal-Crosslands at the time of her death.

Anna is survived by her husband, Mark Myers; four children, Doug Myers (Kim Brosnan-Myers), Lee Anne Palmer (Jeffrey Palmer), Eric Myers, and Tom Myers (Maria Niubo); nine grandchildren; and members of her extended family.