Obituary of Anna Katherine Hewitt

Anna Katherine Hewitt, 23, beloved daughter of Kent Edward & Karen Scheidler Hewitt passed away on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at her residence.

Anna was born on April 29, 2000, in Geneva, IL. She loved spending her childhood years in Pickerington, OH until her family moved to Aiken SC in 2012. Once in Aiken, she attended St. Mary Catholic School and then went to South Aiken High School for her 9^th and 10^th grade years. While at South Aiken, she was active in soccer and cross country. During the summer of 2017, Anna was a student assistant at the University of South Carolina Aiken Campus where she participated in a 6-week research internship with the Delaurier lab studying craniofacial development in zebrafish. She learned PCR and gel imaging. She was accepted to the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics where she completed her junior and senior year graduating with her diploma focusing on Biology and Biological Sciences in 2018.  During her time at the Governor’s School, Anna was involved in soccer, the Art Club, and the Student Council. Anna was also a National Merit Finalist. Anna was accepted to Clemson University where she earned her Bachelor of Science Degree (Summa Cum Laude) in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology with minors in Sustainability and Art in 2022. While at Clemson, she was a member of the Calhoun Honors College. She was an Undergraduate Research Assistant with the Parkinson Lab and learned about evolution and genetics of venomous snakes, as well as many lab and computational techniques, including DNA extraction and transcriptome annotation. During her third semester at Clemson, she began working with the Bewick lab where she assisted on multiple field work trips to the Appalachian Mountains, sorted soil samples for arthropods, and used tracking software to analyze tick movements. Anna would eventually go on to work as an Urban Herpetology/Ecology Technician in Metro Atlanta and then moved to the University of North Carolina where she was currently working within the Aquatic Laboratory Division. In addition to Anna's passion for biology, she was also an extremely gifted artist whose paintings were admired for their in-depth view of nature and its surroundings. Anna was a parishioner at St. Mary Help of Christians Church in Aiken. She was a loving daughter, sister, aunt, granddaughter, niece, cousin and friend.

Anna had the biggest and kindest heart. She loved all animals and had a particular soft spot for her cats Poppy, Sage, and Beanie, as well as her other various critters, including snakes, geckos, and lizards. She was happiest when she was spending time in nature, especially while "herping" to look for reptiles and amphibians in their natural habitats. Anna was deeply passionate about reptile and amphibian ecology, evolution, and conservation and had dreams of devoting her career to wildlife conservation. She also had plans of returning to school for her Master's and PhD. She was an encyclopedia of knowledge with the most incredible memory and was the person to ask if you wanted to know anything about a plant or animal you had seen in the wild. She shared her love of animals with all those around her and had a special talent to make even the most ardent snake haters respect snakes.

Anna was also a lover of cooking, baking, and trying new foods. Her creativity was not limited to the kitchen--she was known for her artwork, especially for gifting people portraits of their pets and other personalized masterpieces. Her artistry also shined through in her fashion; she had a knack for thrifting and pulling together stylish and unique outfits, which were often complimented by her makeup and hair.

She was extremely clever and witty, and brought so much laughter and joy into the lives of everyone who knew her. She was such a special and beautiful soul who made us all better for having known her. 

In addition to her parents, Anna is survived by her maternal grandmother, Rosemary Scheidler of Millhousen, IN; two sisters and brothers-in-law, Susan (Peter) Chadbourne of Liberty Hill, TX and Jennifer (Felipe) Hewitt-Gaitan of Playa del Rey, CA; a brother and sister-in-law, Jonathan (Kayla) Hewitt of Wolfeboro, NH; a brother, Kevin Hewitt of Buckeye, AZ; 4 nieces, Julia Hewitt, Abigail Hewitt, Sarah Hewitt & Elizabeth Hewitt; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

The family will receive friends from 12:30pm until 1:30pm Saturday, November 4, 2023, at the Historic George Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 211 Park Ave, SW, Aiken, SC 29801 (803) 649-6234.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at 2:00pm in the Historic St. Mary Help of Christians Church , 203 Park Ave. SW, Aiken, SC 29801 with the Very Rev. Father Richard Wilson as celebrant.

Final rites and commendations will be held at Calvary Cemetery, 1255 University Blvd, Aiken, SC 29801.

Memorials may be made to the Harry Hampton Wildlife Memorial Scholarship Program, P.O. Box 2641 Columbia, SC 29201 or hamptonwildlifefund.org.

Online expressions of sympathy for the family may be left by visiting www.georgefuneralhomes.com.