Penelope Sperry Ashcraft

Penelope Ruth Rebecca Sperry Ashcraft, 81, of Columbia, MD, passed away Friday December 8, 2018. She was born May 13, 1937 to Frederick Sperry and Mildred Helen Dorr in Lovell, Wyoming. She earned two Master’s degrees - one in Geology from Towson University and one in Urban Planning from The Johns Hopkins University.

She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Daughters of the American Revolution. One of her favorite hobbies was genealogy and she loved looking into the past of her ancestors. She loved searching through records, reading about their lives and sharing that information with others.

Pene retired from the Social Security Administration after providing over 25 years of service and support as a Customer Advocate. She also served on the local government board of Columbia MD in the early 1970s when Columbia was just becoming the city it now is today.

She is survived by her three children - her sons Michael Hanner and Thomas Hanner (from her first marriage to Klaus Hanner) and her daughter Jennifer Ashcraft Hallyburton (from her second marriage to Gary Ashcraft) - and her grandchildren Caroline Hanner and Lora Hallyburton. Pene was preceded in death by her dear husband of over 45 years Gary Dean Ashcraft, who passed away in 2008, and with whom she now exists on a much happier plane of existence.

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