Mary Ann Keith Massey

After experiencing declining health for a number of years, Mary Ann Keith Massey died peaceably on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at Canterbury Court where she and her husband, Knox, had been living for four years. The artist, philanthropist, devoted wife and mother was 83.

Mary Ann Keith was born May 6, 1937 in Wilmington, North Carolina to H. Leonidas Keith and Allene G. Keith, both native North Carolinians. She graduated from New Hanover High School in 1955 and went to St. Mary’s Junior College in Raleigh where she made many lifelong friends. She entered the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1957 where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. It was here that her interest in the arts was kindled and also where, as a senior, she met her future husband, Knox Massey, of Durham. After she graduated in 1959 with a BA in Education, she taught school for a year before marrying Knox in 1960.

In 1964, Mary Ann and Knox moved to Atlanta when an opportunity arose for him to join Tucker Wayne & Co., a growing advertising agency. Mary Ann thrived in Atlanta as a mother, a self-taught artist and a community volunteer. In the 1970s and 1980s, she took on several leadership roles at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church helping to revamp the Parish Hall, finding and supporting the acquisition of a new altar, and tirelessly raising funds for the gardens. She also served on the Vestry and was the Junior Warden for two years.

Mary Ann was a passionate force for good in Atlanta—creative, energetic, and effective in her efforts on many fronts. One of her most significant was the establishment, in 1991, of The Park at St. Luke’s with her friend and cofounder, Emily Willliams Huie. They wrestled with city, state, and federal agencies to establish The Park and to beautify the public space. The project that began with no money, a landscape architect and two others eventually attracted a 39-member board and an endowment of $180,000.

As an artist, Mary Ann found it important to be active on several arts-related organizations in Georgia and North Carolina. She was an active member of the Forward Arts Foundation and helped reinvigorate The Atlanta Opera Ball. Former-Gov. Joe Frank Harris appointed Mary Ann to the Georgia Council for the Arts, which she chaired in her third year. She had a natural eye for spotting talented, unknown artists in Georgia and the Southeast. She also commissioned outdoor works of art at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, and The Bascom Arts Center in Highlands, North Carolina where the family have had a home for decades.

Above all, Mary Ann was an artist herself—drawing, painting, and accomplished at sculpting—as well as an arts aficionado and collector. She will be remembered for her contagious laugh, her joy and willingness to converse with friends and neighbors, and her great love for her husband, children, grandchildren, and friends.

Mary Ann leaves behind a loving family: her husband of 60 years, Charles Knox Massey, Jr.; two daughters, Allene Elizabeth Massey of Savannah and Louise Coats Massey of Highlands; and a son Charles Knox Massey III (Jamie) of Atlanta. Three grandchildren also survive her: Charles Knox Massey IV, Lillian Keith Massey, and Xavier James Massey. Her twin sister, Allene Keith Wright (Laurens) of Wilmington, with whom she had such a tight bond, survives her, as does her sister-in-law Kay Massey Weatherspoon (Van) of Charlotte. She will be missed by her two nephews—Dr. H. Leonidas Keith III (Sandi) of Wilmington, and Brandon Elmore Keith (Kathy) of Annapolis; two nieces—Laura Weatherspoon Shwedo (Blair) of Charlotte and Martha Weatherspoon Johansson (Paul) of Minneapolis; and two “cousins”—William Preston Massey and Charles Herbert Massey of Manteo, North Carolina. Mary Ann was predeceased by her parents, by her brother, Dr. H. Leonidas Keith, Jr. and his wife, Emeline Elmore Keith.

The family fondly thanks Margaret McClure for decades of devotion to the family and, more recently, Marlene Colman for her loving care during Mary Ann’s declining health.

A private family memorial service will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Subsequently, as she requested, Mary Ann will be interred in the historic Oakdale Cemetery in her hometown of Wilmington. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Forward Arts Foundation, 3130 Slaton Drive, NW, Atlanta, GA 30305 or The Park at St. Luke’s, Inc., 435 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30308.