William Smith Ankeney

William Smith Ankeney passed on December 15, 2020 at Elmcroft of Xenia. Bill is survived by his children, Scott Ankeney & Toni Ankeney; 3 grandchildren; and 3 great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by the love of his life, Zaire; his parents; and his sister.

Enjoy the words that Bill himself has put together about his life.

Born in Dayton, Ohio in the year twenty eight,
Finished high school, then the Navy, just couldn't wait.
Though the shooting had stopped the danger was there-
Being bored to death at Great Lakes he just couldn't bear.
With his discharge in hand through the gates he did run,
That electronic program just wasn't much fun.
Then the Dayton Art Institute up on the hill,
Welcomed him back - along with his G.I Bill.
After two or three years of this education,
He discovered he like tech-ni-cal illustration.
And along with enjoying this time of his life,
He also met Zaire, to be his future wife.
So they married, had kids, and he built them a house,
Worked at art, played bass, just a typical spouse.
Started free lancing, took up flying, recovered a plane,
The fabric had been rotten, it was really a pain.
But enough of this sort of civilized sport,
They moved up to Neebish to run a resort.
Well, "resort" may have been just a word that they wished,
The cabins were old and for folks that just fished.
But eight years being mailman seemed more than enough,
So he rented a trailer and packed up their stuff,
And moved back to Ohio - to the land of Big Money,
But for a forty year old artist, jobs were few - 'twas not funny.
So he worked for a dentist making bridges and crowns,
Was an EMT fireman, there were some ups and downs.
He built taborets and bought into Studio Craft.
Took up karate, oh, my how they laughed.
With Zaire he bought a big hobby shop,
In the back did engraving, it wasn't a flop.
In fact Ankeney Engraving is still there today,
Run by Scott and his family - they're doing O.K.
And to those who laughed at his Japanese sport,
He made it to black belt so don't sell him short.
Then down to Florida in the Port Charlotte region,
He painted names on boats - joined the American Legion,
Where he held several offices in both District and Post,
Of a National First Place history book he could boast.
Was newsletter editor in the EAA several years,
Got to fly a B-17 around with one of his peers.
And in his spare time he got out his notes,
Wrote a book about Neebish, with some choice anecdotes.
And so on it goes - drawing, writing, and stained glass,
Woodwork, baking bread, and mowing that grass.