Ann Nimocks Pleasants

Ann Nimocks Pleasants, 87, our beloved Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother passed away peacefully on Monday, January 16, 2023, at Our Lady of Peace retirement community, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Ann was a 1953 graduate of Fayetteville High School, St. Mary's College in 1955, and Flora Macdonald College in 1957, now St. Andrews University.

She was born in Lumberton, North Carolina and later moved to Fayetteville, where she grew up carousing with her childhood friends aptly named “The Rat Pack.” She made her debut in 1954, hosted by the Terpsichorean Club of Raleigh, the oldest and most prestigious debutante ball in North Carolina.

After her college graduation, she met and was swept off her feet by William (Bill) V. Pleasants. They met on a double date with one of her “Rat Pack” cronies, Ann Grantham and her eventual husband, John Grantham, in Fayetteville. For the next 55 years, Bill was her constant escort, cook, and one love, as they traveled a wonderful journey with friends and family.

Once married, they moved to Charlottesville, where they lived for 45 years, raising two daughters, and gathering many friends and stories along the way. Ann began teaching at Meriwether Lewis Elementary School, before becoming a full-time mother.

Ann was a long-standing active member of the Junior Service League of Charlottesville, where she happily volunteered many hours. She also donated her talents to the Charlottesville Garden Club. Her arrangements were always the talk of the town, especially when on display for the penultimate Historic Garden Week, each Spring. Although a “pop of color” is now ingrained in our vernacular, we do believe it originated in the creative mind of Ann Pleasants.

Ann is known best by her grandchildren as the Master of Manners, and even spent many hours teaching courses to multiple children, who have all benefited by her class and dignity.

Ann and Bill retired to Little Washington, North Carolina, developing an entirely new set of lovely friends, whom they cherish dearly. Ann returned to Charlottesville in 2016, four years after being widowed. She was welcomed into the loving arms of the staff of Our Lady of Peace, a godsend to her and her family.

Ann is survived by her children, Nancy P. Diffenbaugh (Andy) and Mary Elizabeth McManus (Pat) and her five grandchildren, the lights of her life, Ann Peyton and Elizabeth Diffenbaugh, Ann Maitland Holbrook (Austin), Elizabeth Cameron Wortham (Coleman), and Daniel McManus (Sarah). She also enjoyed the blessings of five great-grandchildren: Thomas Holt, Frances Lane, and Elizabeth Wynne Holbrook; Mary Vernon and Coleman McManus Wortham.

The family extends our sincere appreciation to Ann’s “Earth Angel”, Veda Holcomb, who loved and looked after her as her own Mother, and special thanks to her husband, Ryan Holcomb, for preforming her Memorial Service and their daughter, Brehanna Burley, for her beautiful solo. Special thanks to all her wonderful caregivers at Our Lady of Peace.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to Our Lady of Peace’s Activity or Chapel Fund would be appreciated.