Wanda Strickland Way
Wanda Strickland Way, 76, of Bristol Village in Waverly, Ohio, and a former long-time resident of Middletown, Ohio, passed away on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Wanda was a noted teacher in the Middletown Public School System. Her distinguished career as an educator spanned a 40-year period and encompassed a variety of challenging and creative experiences. Her extraordinary dedication to teaching garnered the deep appreciation of generations of students and parents.
She began teaching in rural southeastern Ohio as one of the original instructors in the head start program in her native Pike County. Later, she taught kindergarten in the Scioto Valley School System. After a move to Middletown, she worked first as a teacher of the developmentally disabled then in elementary education. The bulk of her career, however, was spent teaching eighth grade grammar and composition. Both she and her students received city, regional and state-wide recognition for their work. She was also a founding teacher in the gifted and talented program for Middletown Public Schools and a 1992 recipient of the Crystal Apple Award for teaching excellence.
Wanda was born in Lucasville, Ohio, in 1932. She was the seventh of 10 children and was reared on the family dairy farm. As an active member of 4-H, she competed nationally in cattle judging competitions. Among numerous other accomplishments she won a state-wide scholarship for Home Economics which she used to attend The Ohio State University. She later graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in Elementary Education and from the University of Dayton with a M.A. in Education.
For 56 years she was the wife of David E. Way, who served as school superintendent for the Scioto Valley School System and Carlisle Public Schools. She is survived by her husband who continues to reside in Bristol Village, and three of their four children, William (wife Barbara) of Westfield, N.J., Michael of Bexley, Ohio, and Rebecca Rudd (husband Tim) of Middletown; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her son, Chad; and her grandson, Adam Way. She is also survived by six sisters and brothers, Josephine Charles and Earl Strickland of Portsmouth, Ohio, Naomi Stolly of Dallas, Texas, Ralph Strickland and Dolores Brown of Waverly, Ohio, and Alyce Woodall of Portland, Maine.
The family will receive visitors in the Gathering Room of First Presbyterian Church at 2910 Central Avenue, Middletown, Ohio, on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a funeral service in the Sanctuary at 1:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers the family has requested that donations be made to the Wanda and David Way Education Scholarship Fund through the Middletown Community Foundation at 36 Donham Plaza, Middletown, OH 45042, or in the name of Wanda Way to the sender's preferred charity or cause.
Arrangements are by the Breitenbach-McCoy-Leffler Funeral Home.
Portsmouth Daily Times
February 3, 2009
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