Published: Tuesday, May. 13, 2008 / Updated: Wednesday, May. 14, 2008 08:46 AM
Wanda Ketteman: 'Heaven gains an angel'
Wanda Ketteman was a friend to humans and animals alike.
Up until the end, she spent her free time helping homeless dogs and cats. Ketteman battled cancer for the better part of five years, but in the end it was a blood clot that took her life. She died Friday, May 9.
A dedicated worker known as one of the friendliest people in town, she is missed by everyone who knew her. Over the years Ketteman worked at the Fort Mill Times, Compact 2 Technologies and most recently, at H&R Block. She volunteered much of her time at the Humane Society of York County and with the Fort Mill VFW Ladies Auxiliary, and was a member of the Deaf Dog Society.
She had no children of her own, but treated her nieces like they were hers, her husband William Ketteman said. The couple also gave a home to a collection of five dogs and four cats, and fed countless feral cats that made their home in the Kettemens' yard.
"Cat and dog food got to be $100 a lick every time we'd go to the pet store, but she'd say, 'we've got to feed them, we've got to take care of them, they depend on us,'" William Ketteman said, remembering his wife of 30 years. "She was a special person."
"You live together with someone for 30 years, it's hard to put in words," he said. "A lot of people are just husband and wife. We were best friends."
Ketteman was diagnosed with cervical cancer five years ago. During her chemotherapy, William said he knows there were days his wife didn't feel like even getting out of bed, but that didn't stop her from going in to work.
"She worked like it was her business, all the effort she put into everything" he said.
William Ketteman tries to remember the good times. The first baseball game played at Knights stadium when the couple sat on top of the home team's dugout along the first base line with John and Carol Mantle, how neither of them ever made a decision without talking it over first.
"I think just being around somebody who loves you is the fondest memory you're gonna get," he said. "But to see 'em suffer is hard, that's the kind of memory you want to discourage but can't."
"She was a great woman," former Fort Mill Times Publisher John Mantle said. "The first thing that comes to mind is she was my friend, and she was Carol's friend too. We'll miss her."
Ketteman will leave a hole at the Humane Society too, Director Kathy Sowell said.
"Heaven has gained an angel, but the animals of York County lost one in her," Sowell said.
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