Mary Ann Willingham

On the evening of November 24, 2025, Mary Ann Willingham died peacefully in her sleep, bound for Glory from her ancestral home in Arden, North Carolina. Born on April 18, 1934, she is predeceased by her father, William Cloud Hicklin, Jr., mother, Ann Carson Hicklin, and brother, William Cloud Hicklin III. Mary Ann leaves behind daughters Ann Carson Quarngesser Gleberman (Joe) of New York; Mary Cloud Quarngesser Conrad of Georgia; and Susan Stuart Quarngesser of Maryland; grandchildren Sarah Kirschner (Ben), Marty Gleberman, Charles Gleberman, Carson Amiot, Cameron Amiot, and Jackson Amiot; and beloved nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. She also leaves behind a legacy of colossal proportion.

After attending Valley Springs School and St. Genevieve in the Pines in Asheville, and St. Catherine’s in Virginia, Mary Ann earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Sweet Briar College in 1956. A blind double date brought Elwood Stuart Quarngesser, Jr., a senior at Washington & Lee University, into Mary Ann’s sphere. The couple married in June 1956 in Asheville, and raised their three daughters in Baltimore, Maryland, Stuart’s hometown.

Nicknames like Sarge, Ball o’ Fire, Velvet Steamroller, and The Big M only begin to describe Mary Ann’s take-charge attitude, boundless energy, relentless optimism, amazing capacity, sharp intellect, and smooth wit. She was, in short, a tall glass of sweet tea. The bat of an eyelash was as good as the wave of a magic wand – her will was done. As a visionary leader and motivator of others, she skillfully shepherded countless organizations and committees to results far beyond expectations.

When the Junior League of Baltimore conceived an ambitious new fundraiser, the Baltimore International Indoor Tennis Championships, they chose Mary Ann to chair the event for the first two years,1971-1972. These events surpassed fundraising goals and attracted such tennis legends as Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastasẻ, and Stan Smith.

Witnessing this stellar performance firsthand, then-mayor William Donald Schaeffer hired Mary Ann to lead the public relations effort to pass a bond referendum supporting a new aquarium. To no one’s surprise, the measure passed, and the Baltimore Aquarium now hosts over a million visitors each year.

Mary Ann’s drive and charm caught the eye of Jim Piper, and soon she earned her realtor’s license and joined O’Connor, Piper & Flynn, a leading real estate brokerage in Maryland at the time. With unwavering charm, determination, and contract savvy she was a regular in the brokerage’s Million Dollar Club. During her years as manager of the Greenspring OPF branch, it was consistently one of the highest producing offices in the network during her ten years at the helm. She formed lifelong bonds with the agents she guided and supported.

Retiring in 1996, Mary Ann brought her magic home to Western North Carolina, lovingly updating her childhood home and restoring her father’s rose garden. In his tradition, she tended over a hundred rose bushes for the sole purpose of sharing their blooms. The artistry of her flower arrangements, based on her “by gosh and by golly” philosophy, brightened many a party, altar, or hospital room and she invited friends to cut their own roses, even lending her five-gallon buckets for transport. Summertime visitors need take just two steps inside her home for the scent of roses to sweeten their day. She soon became a recognized authority on rose horticulture. It was inevitable that Mary Ann would become president of Asheville’s Town and Country Garden Club and be one of the founding members of the Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society.

Mary Ann found deep, abiding love a second time when she met James E. Willingham, a resident of Asheville and Orlando, Florida in the Spring of 2000. They married later that year and share twelve beautiful years together, separated only by Jim’s death.

As an accomplished needlepoint artist Mary Ann created interpretive, multivariate stitched Christmas stockings and full-size chess boards for her grandchildren – family heirlooms to pass on to future generations. She also brought her artistry to her faith family at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, North Carolina, master-minding an initiative to create artistic needlepoint kneeler cushions for the communion rails in both the chapel and main sanctuary. These cushions illustrate the seasons of the Episcopal calendar in imaginative compositions of native Western North Carolina flora and fauna. The result of this ten-year endeavor was featured in a leading needle arts magazine.

Mary Ann was a member of the vestry at Calvary and a fervent supporter of the establishment of the food pantry there. She made lifelong friends through Calvary and the Bible Study Fellowship hosted at West Asheville Baptist Church.

We will miss our divine matriarch, but we are buoyed with the knowledge that Mary Ann is large and in charge in Heaven, no doubt already chosen to rewrite the angels’ by-laws and adorn their robes with stitches. Glitzy stitches. When you ascend, you’ll recognize her touch instantly as wafts of Fragrant Cloud roses wrap around you like her hug.

Our family is so deeply grateful for the good work and kind care of our friends at A New Hope Home Care and Four Seasons Hospice – Mary Ann’s care team was spectacular. The service will be held at Calvary Episcopal on January 19th, 2026 at 2:00 PM. A reception will follow at Calvary. In lieu of flowers, we invite you to consider donating to the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry.

Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian is assisting the family.