Alma Packett was the daughter of Andrew Broadus Packett and Margaret Frances (Hinson) Packett. She married Karl Bernhardt Pedersen born June 1, 1907, a native of Denmark. He died April 28, 1962, and is buried with Alma, his wife.

Mrs. Alma Packett Pedersen, 97, a native of Richmond County, passed away December 10, 2001 at the Warsaw Heathcare Center.

The second of 12 children of Andrew and Margaret Hinson Packett, she was born August 23, 1904 at Totuskey Bridge, where her father was a blacksmith and her mother ran a boarding house. In 1910, she moved with her family to a farm outside Warsaw and she graduated from Warsaw High School in 1922.

She attended the College of William and Mary, which had just opened its doors to female students, for two years earning a teaching certificate. After teaching in Virginia Public schools for several terms, she moved to Richmond where she was employed at Thalhimer's Department Store. Following retirement from Thalhimer's she retured to Warsaw in 1968 and resided at her home on Richmond Road until moving to the Warsaw Heathcare Center in 1995.

She was the last surviving charter member of Warsaw Baptist Church, the last surviving member of her high school class, a member of the Chantilly Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Menokin Homemakers Club, and a former member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

She is survived by a sister, Mildred Lewis of Richmond; two of her husband's nieces, Birthe Nielsen of Canada and Kristen Mortensen of Denmark, and 10 beloved nieces and nephews, plus numerous grand-nieces and nephews. Her husband, Karl B. Pedersen, a native of Denmark, died in 1962.

Funeral services were held at Warsaw Baptist Church on Thursday, December 13, at 2 p.m. Interment followed in the church cemetery. The Rev. L.D. Kimrey officiated.

Pallbearers were Bruce Lewis, Brian Lewis, Andrew Packett, William Packett, Karl Jett, Bruce Rock and William Bryant.
Memorial contributions may be made to Warsaw Baptist Church, P.O. Box 576, Warsaw, Va. 22572.