Mary Kee White

Mary Kee Tankard White age 76 died in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 19, 2011 at Hospice of Wake County with her family by her side. She was born in Hickory, NC August 16, 1934 to Myrtle Bell Tankard and Samuel Dunton Tankard, Jr. The family moved in 1944 to Franktown, Virginia on the Eastern Shore of Virginia where her father founded The Tankard Nurseries. She was surrounded by Tankards---aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, who were a wonderful part of her life.

She graduated from high school as Valedictorian and from Randolph Macon Womans College in Lynchburg, VA in the class of 1955 as a Phi Beta Kappa recipient. She married Frank Lee Hood, III and lived in Greensboro, NC and then Raleigh, NC, where they raised their two daughters.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her first husband, Frank Lee Hood III, her sister, Elizabeth Tankard Neal, and a granddaughter, Margaret Hood Schuth. In 1980 she married David Richard White.

Mary Kee worked as a residential Realtor for 33 years in Raleigh, retiring in 2006. She was active in the arts and community as a member of The Raleigh Fine Arts Society, a docent of the NC Museum of Art, board member of the Wake County Phi Beta Kappa Association, annual subscriber to the NC Symphony and Carolina Ballet, and 40+ year member of the Junior League of Raleigh. Mary Kee was also an active member of White Memorial Presbyterian Church, and involved in the Women of The Church Circle, bible study Sunday School Class, Konicnea, and Stephen Ministry. Mary Kee loved gardening, flower arranging, tennis, dancing, going to the beach, and being with her wonderful friends and neighbors. She enjoyed dancing and socializing as a member of The Assembly, The Sphinx Club and Carolina Country Club.

She is survived by her husband of 31 years, David R. White; her daughters and their husbands Kee Hood Schuth Marshall and Jim Marshall and Melanie Tankard Hood Rankin and her husband Bill Rankin; her grandchildren Caroline and Will Rankin, Sam Schuth, and Frank Marshall. Also, her husband’s children and grandchildren David R. White, Jr. and his wife Leigh and their children Jennifer, Matthew, Parker, and Camille of Phoenixville, PA and Sophie Kivett Maness and her husband Roger and their children Sophie Ann and Jerry Kivett and Brian Maness of Nashville, Tenn.

She is survived by her brother, Sam Tankard of Virginia Beach, VA. She is also survived by her brother-in-law William Kirk Neal and nieces, Susan Neal Price and Betsy Neal McCray and nephew Bill Neal III. She is also survived by her first husband’s sisters, Betsy Burleson and Mary Anne Brown, and nephews Charlie and Whit Brown.

A memorial service will be held at White Memorial Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, March 23 at 2:00 p.m. The family will receive friends immediately ¬¬following the service at the home of Mary Kee and David White, 3305 Landor Road.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to White Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1704 Oberlin Road, Raleigh, NC 27608; or Franktown United Methodist Church, 7551 Bayside Rd., Franktown, Va. 23354; or Hospice of Wake County, 200 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607; or Randolph College (formerly Randolph Macon Womans College), 2500 Rivermont Avenue, Lynchburg, VA 24503.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's Street Raleigh, NC 27605, (919) 828-4311.