Mary Ann Ashley
October 8, 1938 ~ July 16, 2021
Mary Ann Ashley, formerly Young, of Centreville, Virginia, passed away July 16, 2021 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She is survived by her loving husband of almost 60 years, Adrian Ashley, and daughters Dana Szczesniak (John) of Aldie, VA and Julie Conway (Brian) of Centreville, VA. In addition, she is survived by eleven grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.
Mary Ann Young was born in Hereford, Texas where she lived until she went to college at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. It is there that she met Adrian. They married after graduation and started their overseas adventures courtesy of the US Army. They were stationed in Heidelberg, Germany; Athens, Greece; and Tehran, Iran among many US posts as well. Mary Ann loved to travel and took advantage of their assignments to see Europe, Turkey and Israel. She made many lifelong friends during her travels. You can take the small town out of a small-town girl and show her the world.
They settled in Northern Virginia for good in 1978 and continued their membership at Ravensworth Baptist Church for more than 40 years. Mary Ann served as Organist and Pianist at church services for 30 years, also serving as a Deacon and on many committees. She raised her girls and worked as an Army Civilian until her retirement in 2000. Mary Ann always searched for ways to serve others, frequently volunteering at church, with children’s activities and community events.
Other than her husband and family, Mary Ann’s other great love was of music. She began playing the piano at age 6, and eventually that led to the organ. She played and sang frequently for church choirs and school groups while in high school and college. While stationed in Germany, her church choir was able to sing at Martin Luther’s Church. Her longest volunteer stint was for Ravensworth where she not only played for weekly services, but also played for many weddings and funerals. She always knew the perfect songs that were needed for the occasion, and spent countless hours practicing.
Her family time was cherished and celebrated with her famous Sunday dinners. In later years, she and Adrian bought a second home in the Outer Banks of NC, where Mary Ann loved to walk the beach with her dog and collect shells. She found peace there. She also found new life as a grandmother and always enjoyed reading to and spending time with her grandkids. Her sharp wit and infectious laugh will be missed.
The Ashley family will hold services honoring Mary Ann on July 31, 2021 at McLean Baptist Church at 2:00 PM. Mary Ann’s final resting place will be at Arlington National Cemetery, interment to be announced at a later time.
The family requests that donations be made in memory of Mary Ann to either:
The Hope Street Heroes WALK to End Alzheimer's team at
https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2021/TX-NorthCentralTexas?team_id=673562&pg=team&fr_id=14808
or mailed to the Alzheimer's Association - North Central Texas Chapter, 301 S. Pioneer Dr., Ste. 105, Abilene, Texas 79605.
Or to Ravensworth Baptist Church Music Program,
https://onrealm.org/RavensworthBaptist/give/music, or by
text "RBCGIVE MUS" to 73256 to give using your mobile device, or Checks can be mailed to RBC, 5100 Ravensworth Rd, Annandale, Va 22003.
Mary Ann Young was born in Hereford, Texas where she lived until she went to college at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. It is there that she met Adrian. They married after graduation and started their overseas adventures courtesy of the US Army. They were stationed in Heidelberg, Germany; Athens, Greece; and Tehran, Iran among many US posts as well. Mary Ann loved to travel and took advantage of their assignments to see Europe, Turkey and Israel. She made many lifelong friends during her travels. You can take the small town out of a small-town girl and show her the world.
They settled in Northern Virginia for good in 1978 and continued their membership at Ravensworth Baptist Church for more than 40 years. Mary Ann served as Organist and Pianist at church services for 30 years, also serving as a Deacon and on many committees. She raised her girls and worked as an Army Civilian until her retirement in 2000. Mary Ann always searched for ways to serve others, frequently volunteering at church, with children’s activities and community events.
Other than her husband and family, Mary Ann’s other great love was of music. She began playing the piano at age 6, and eventually that led to the organ. She played and sang frequently for church choirs and school groups while in high school and college. While stationed in Germany, her church choir was able to sing at Martin Luther’s Church. Her longest volunteer stint was for Ravensworth where she not only played for weekly services, but also played for many weddings and funerals. She always knew the perfect songs that were needed for the occasion, and spent countless hours practicing.
Her family time was cherished and celebrated with her famous Sunday dinners. In later years, she and Adrian bought a second home in the Outer Banks of NC, where Mary Ann loved to walk the beach with her dog and collect shells. She found peace there. She also found new life as a grandmother and always enjoyed reading to and spending time with her grandkids. Her sharp wit and infectious laugh will be missed.
The Ashley family will hold services honoring Mary Ann on July 31, 2021 at McLean Baptist Church at 2:00 PM. Mary Ann’s final resting place will be at Arlington National Cemetery, interment to be announced at a later time.
The family requests that donations be made in memory of Mary Ann to either:
The Hope Street Heroes WALK to End Alzheimer's team at
https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2021/TX-NorthCentralTexas?team_id=673562&pg=team&fr_id=14808
or mailed to the Alzheimer's Association - North Central Texas Chapter, 301 S. Pioneer Dr., Ste. 105, Abilene, Texas 79605.
Or to Ravensworth Baptist Church Music Program,
https://onrealm.org/RavensworthBaptist/give/music, or by
text "RBCGIVE MUS" to 73256 to give using your mobile device, or Checks can be mailed to RBC, 5100 Ravensworth Rd, Annandale, Va 22003.
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Our sincere sympathy to the family of Mary Ann. She was a lovely lady and we were fortunate to have known her for many years. God bless her and God bless her family. Dean and Jo Thompson