It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Mary Anne Moorhead Ball. Mary passed peacefully in her sleep the evening of Saturday, May 6th in Front Royal, Virginia after a long battle with Alzheimer’s dementia and cancer.
She is survived by her loving husband, Hugh Ball, her sister Joanna Moorhead Taylor and spouse Ralph Taylor, her niece Alison Taylor, her nephew John “Duncan” Taylor, her four step children and their spouses, Kevin and Lucille Ball, Greg Ball and Kirke Smith, Mike and Jennifer Ball, and Michelle Hupp and Bill Thalmann, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Anyone that ever had the good fortune to meet her knew immediately what a kind and genuine person she was. She embodied the words “southern charm”. She was a highly educated and savvy business woman who received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina and she went on to earn her Masters of Education from the University of Virginia (even though her grandfather was one of the founders of Duke University!). Mary loved kids and spent time as an EDLD teacher in Fairfax County where she won Teacher of the Year in 1974. She left teaching and went full time into the antique business. Mary owned Teacher’s Pet antiques in Old Town Alexandria where she catered to celebrities and senator’s wives before moving the business to Sterling, Virginia to set up shop with my dad. She will be missed by so many who had the honor to know her; may she rest in peace.
A visitation will be held on for Mary on Thursday, May 11 from 5pm to 7pm with a service the following day Friday, May 12 at 11am all held at Omps Funeral Home, Amherst Chapel. Following the service a reception will be held at Regions 117 at Lake Frederick. Inurnment will be at a later date at Sterling Cemetery, Sterling VA.
Memorial contributions may be made in memory of Mary to Alzheimer’s Association – National Capital Area Chapter, 8180 Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA 22102 or American Cancer Society, 124 Park Street SE, Vienna, VA 22180.