Verna Ellen Nichols Baldridge Witten

Verna Ellen Nichols Baldridge Witten, 94, of Wurtland, Kentucky, went home to be the Lord, Saturday, May 27, 2023, at her home surrounded by her loving family. Verna was born May 7, 1929, in Oldtown, Kentucky, a daughter of the late Abraham and Vergie Alice (Poplin) Nichols.

She was a 1947 graduate of Wurtland High School and a 1962 graduate of Morehead State University in which she earned a degree in Elementary Education. She had a long teaching career that began in one-room schools; the Claylick School from 1947-1949; the former Westwood School on Long Branch in Oldtown, Kentucky for 2 years, and the former Palmara School at Hunnewell, Kentucky for 1 year. She will be remembered mostly as the 5th grade teacher at Wurtland Elementary School from 1960 until she retired in 1986. She remained a substitute teacher for 2 more years. Verna was a member of the Wurtland Freewill Baptist Church.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband Glenard “Bo” Baldrige; her second husband Everett "Pete" Witten; a son Louis Glenard Baldridge; a grandson James Elmer Baldridge; a brother Luther Nichols and a sister Emma Murnahan.

She is survived by two sons James Earl Baldridge of Wurtland, Kentucky, and Benjamin Lee (Brenda) Baldridge of Franklin Furnace, Ohio; a daughter Glenna Baldridge (Richard Bryan) Callihan of Lexington, Kentucky; ten grandchildren; thirteen great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandsons; a host of nieces, nephews and family who will miss her dearly.

Funeral service will be conducted at 1:00 pm, Thursday, June 1, 2023, at the Wurtland Freewill Baptist Church by Pastor Randy Smith. Burial will be in the Poynter Cemetery at Argillite, Kentucky. Visitation will be from 5:00 – 8:00 pm Wednesday at Reed Funeral Home in Greenup, Kentucky and one hour before the service at Wurtland Freewill Baptist Church. Condolences may be made at www.rlrfuneralhome.com