Emily Avery Whitehorne: Army Wife, Volunteer

Emily Avery Whitehorne, army wife, antiques dealer and collector, and community volunteer, died of natural causes at her Winchester, Virginia residence on May 13, 2014.  Born at the Presidio of San Francisco on 15 April 1918, she is the daughter of Irving C. Avery, an Army officer, and Emily Avery (neé Hornblower).  She moved with her parents to various army postings in Panama and the U.S. until attending École Villa Yéna, Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1931-32.  Returning to the U.S., she spent a year at ImmaculataHigh School, Leavenworth, KS before attending St. Margaret’s School, Waterbury, CN.  Upon graduation in 1936 she studied at the KatherineGibbsSchool, then worked in New York City as an office assistant.

She married Joseph W.A. Whitehorne III, an Army officer, on 8 June 1940 at Plattsburgh Barracks, NY.  While her father and husband were overseas in WWII she lived in Loudounville, NY.  After the war military assignments took the family to Hawaii, Alaska, England and various continental U.S. locations.  Her English contacts led her to become a dealer in Georgian silver throughout the 1950’s.  Upon her husband’s retirement in 1968 she lived in Middlebury, VT.  There she served on the llsley Library Board, ran the Round Robin Thrift Shop, volunteered at the SheldonMuseum and worked as an antiques evaluator.  She moved to Winchester, VA in 1991, a year after her husband’s death.  She served for many years as a docent at Belle Grove Plantation, MiddletownVA, and assisted in the Christ Episcopal Church Thrift Shop ,Winchester ,Va.  She is survived by a son, Joseph W.A. Whitehorne IV of Front Royal, VA, daughter, Avery Hallowell of Coronado, CA, three grand children and seven great-grand children. Graveside services will be held at ArlingtonNationalCemetery. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Humane Society of Warren County, VA.