Dr. Lois Ann Serafin

Dr. Lois Ann Serafin was born on July 24, 1931, at Gnegy Church, Maryland. She was

the daughter of the late Carl D. and Lola S. Bachtel. She had one sister,

(Mary) Grace DePollo of Elkins, deceased.

On June 28, 1952, she married Joseph B. Serafin at Red House, Maryland.

Surviving are two daughters, Juliana Serafin (Albert Liu) of Charleston, WV, and Priscilla Serafin (Timothy Young) of Rowley, MA, and four grandchildren Rebecca Young, Ethan Young, Isaac Liu and Elena Liu. She is also survived by two nieces, Janice Lantz of Greensburg, PA, and Karen Basham of Charlottsville, VA.

Dr. Serafin graduated from Oakland High School in 1948. She earned a BA

in education from Alderson-Broaddus College at Philippi in 1962 and a doctorate

in education administration from West Virginia University in 1985. She served

as a teacher and administrator in Barbour County and came to Randolph County

Schools in 1976 as principal of Third Ward School. She became a county

administrator in Randolph County and retired in 1989. She returned to Alderson-

Broaddus College as an associate professor and became chairman of the Education

Division until 1996 when she retired to work on the Adaland Mansion Restoration

Project with the City of Philippi, becoming Executive Director of Adaland in 2001. She and her husband Joe were among the original volunteers on this project and she

continued to love managing Adaland for about 20 years.

She was a member of Crim Memorial United Methodist Church, the Barbour County

Chamber of Commerce, The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, the Barbour

County Historical Society, Barbour County Retired School Employees and was a

life member of the West Virginia Retired School Employees and the West Virginia

Garden Club Inc. She was a past president of the Philippi Woman’s Club, Philippi

Garden Club, and Philippi AAUW.

Dr. Serafin was honored as a History Hero by the state of West Virginia and received

the 2015 Historic Preservation Project of the Year from the Preservation Alliance

of West Virginia. She was honored by the Barbour County Chamber of Commerce for

community service in 2016 and that same year Adaland was the business of the year. She was well known in historic restoration circles and loved

history, old buildings, furniture, art, music and wildflowers. The Serafins maintained

a perennial garden and yard at their home for many years and loved to care for it. A special thanks to Ann’s caregivers Roberta Wiseman, Jaime Daughtery, Nancy McLeod and everyone at Brookdale Charleston Gardens.

A memorial service will be held at Crim Memorial United Methodist Church on Saturday, July 11th at 11 am. Visitation will be from 9:30 to 11 am. Donations in Ann’s memory may be made to Crim Memorial United Methodist Church, Adaland Mansion, or the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.