Obituary for Ann Kierulff Lorge (Wilkins)
Ann Wilkins Lorge (86) passed away peacefully at her home in Brevard, NC, on Sunday, January 16, 2022, after a courageous six-month battle with lymphoma. She was a deep lover of hearth and home, family, animals (especially cats), and every season in the mountains of Western NC. Her passing on a beautiful snowy day, surrounded by her three children and two cats in the soft glow of the fireplace, thus provided a fitting ending to a beautiful life.
Born in 1935 in Nashville, TN, while her father was in medical school at Vanderbilt, Ann Kierulff Wilkins spent her early years in Nashville and Alexandria, VA, where her father, a pediatrician and public health officer in the navy, was stationed during WWII. One of the highlights of her childhood was a lengthy road trip the family took out west in the early 40s which sparked a lifelong love of all things cowboy. After the war, the family settled in Jacksonville, FL, where Ann attended Robert E. Lee High School, class of ‘53. She then attended Mars Hill College, where her grandmother and both parents had taught in the 20s and 30s. Ann received her AA degree at Mars Hill and then transferred to Stetson University in Deland, FL, where she met her future husband, and graduated with a BA in History in 1957.
Shortly after graduating from Stetson, she married Ransom Grady Snowden, Jr., and the couple moved to Louisville, KY, where Grady attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. While in KY, her first two children, Beth and Gray (Grady III), were born. In 1962 the young family moved back to Jacksonville, FL, where Grady was the pastor of Park Lane Baptist Church for 13 years. While there, the couple’s third child, Amy, was born. During those years Ann was active in the PTA and substituted at Hyde Park Elementary School. She also taught a popular and well-attended women’s Sunday School class at Park Lane where she was known for facilitating open discussion and encouraging fresh, open-minded ways of thinking.
Following a divorce in 1974, Ann lived on her own for several years, working at Ivey’s department store at Roosevelt Mall and teaching at Orange Park Middle School where she met Master Chief Walter C. Lorge, USN, through a fellow teacher. Ann and Walt were married in 1978 and lived in Jacksonville for 10 years before returning to Ann’s beloved WNC in 1988. While living in Hendersonville, Ann substituted in Henderson County Schools and Walt was a regular volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Following Walt’s death in 1994, Ann continued to live in Hendersonville, traveling often to Atlanta to visit grandchildren, and providing a home in the mountains where they could visit Gram. The family gathered at Cascade Lake Campground every Labor Day weekend and also celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas annually in Hendersonville. In 2001, Ann reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Leo Temples, and the couple enjoyed 13 years of traveling and camping together until Leo’s death in 2014.
In 2016, Ann’s eldest daughter and her husband moved to Brevard, and in 2018 Ann bought a house in the same block where she lived out the remainder of her days. Her three years in Connestee Falls were some of her happiest - where her children and now-grown grandchildren would gather for raucous ping-pong games in the garage, hike to the waterfalls, kayak in the lakes, and, perhaps most memorably, laugh and laugh and laugh. She made many friends through the Connestee Chorale, where she was known as their “number one fan,” and formed close friendships with her neighbors. She attended “Sound of Music” parties with one set of neighbors who greeted her at the door wearing blue satin sashes and served schnitzel with noodles for dinner. She walked three miles a day, seven days a week, with another neighbor who, once she became ill, called her every day, and came to her house to play the guitar and sing with her regularly. Favorite songs they sang included “Salty Dog”, “Today” and “Back Home Again” (John Denver), “Edelweiss”, and the hymn “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy”. She marveled that she had waited 82 years to meet her best friend.
A talented seamstress, an avid reader of history and biography, and a lover of words with a quick wit, Ann always looked for the small miracles in life and she found them everywhere. She was a teacher, first and foremost, and her example taught us all how to listen and affirm and appreciate the tiniest of joys in any given moment. Those of us lucky enough to be touched by her tenderness and kindness became better human beings. We carry her always in our hearts and will miss her beyond measure.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Walter Eugene Wilkins and Katherine Gibbs Wilkins, both of Mars Hill, NC, and her sister Lady Gene Ennals (David) of London. She is survived by her daughter, Beth (Bruce) Burney of Brevard, NC; her son, Dr. Gray (Ruth) Snowden of Richmond, VA; and her daughter Amy (Jeff) Mather of Atlanta, GA. Her beloved grandchildren include Will Burney of Brevard, NC; Sam Burney of Atlanta, GA; Sophie Fisher of Chicago, IL; Lucas Snowden, student at Virginia Tech; Katherine Mather, student at Georgia State University; and Grace Mather, student at Furman University.
A family service and interment of ashes will be held in Mars Hill, NC, in the spring (date TBD). Donations in memory of Ann Lorge can be made to Mountain Laurel Animal Rescue, a local nonprofit organization that lovingly re-homed Ann’s cats. Address: PO Box 1509, Pisgah Forest, NC, 28768 or online at https://linktr.ee/MtnLaurelAR.
Online condolences may be left at www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com.
Born in 1935 in Nashville, TN, while her father was in medical school at Vanderbilt, Ann Kierulff Wilkins spent her early years in Nashville and Alexandria, VA, where her father, a pediatrician and public health officer in the navy, was stationed during WWII. One of the highlights of her childhood was a lengthy road trip the family took out west in the early 40s which sparked a lifelong love of all things cowboy. After the war, the family settled in Jacksonville, FL, where Ann attended Robert E. Lee High School, class of ‘53. She then attended Mars Hill College, where her grandmother and both parents had taught in the 20s and 30s. Ann received her AA degree at Mars Hill and then transferred to Stetson University in Deland, FL, where she met her future husband, and graduated with a BA in History in 1957.
Shortly after graduating from Stetson, she married Ransom Grady Snowden, Jr., and the couple moved to Louisville, KY, where Grady attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. While in KY, her first two children, Beth and Gray (Grady III), were born. In 1962 the young family moved back to Jacksonville, FL, where Grady was the pastor of Park Lane Baptist Church for 13 years. While there, the couple’s third child, Amy, was born. During those years Ann was active in the PTA and substituted at Hyde Park Elementary School. She also taught a popular and well-attended women’s Sunday School class at Park Lane where she was known for facilitating open discussion and encouraging fresh, open-minded ways of thinking.
Following a divorce in 1974, Ann lived on her own for several years, working at Ivey’s department store at Roosevelt Mall and teaching at Orange Park Middle School where she met Master Chief Walter C. Lorge, USN, through a fellow teacher. Ann and Walt were married in 1978 and lived in Jacksonville for 10 years before returning to Ann’s beloved WNC in 1988. While living in Hendersonville, Ann substituted in Henderson County Schools and Walt was a regular volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Following Walt’s death in 1994, Ann continued to live in Hendersonville, traveling often to Atlanta to visit grandchildren, and providing a home in the mountains where they could visit Gram. The family gathered at Cascade Lake Campground every Labor Day weekend and also celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas annually in Hendersonville. In 2001, Ann reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Leo Temples, and the couple enjoyed 13 years of traveling and camping together until Leo’s death in 2014.
In 2016, Ann’s eldest daughter and her husband moved to Brevard, and in 2018 Ann bought a house in the same block where she lived out the remainder of her days. Her three years in Connestee Falls were some of her happiest - where her children and now-grown grandchildren would gather for raucous ping-pong games in the garage, hike to the waterfalls, kayak in the lakes, and, perhaps most memorably, laugh and laugh and laugh. She made many friends through the Connestee Chorale, where she was known as their “number one fan,” and formed close friendships with her neighbors. She attended “Sound of Music” parties with one set of neighbors who greeted her at the door wearing blue satin sashes and served schnitzel with noodles for dinner. She walked three miles a day, seven days a week, with another neighbor who, once she became ill, called her every day, and came to her house to play the guitar and sing with her regularly. Favorite songs they sang included “Salty Dog”, “Today” and “Back Home Again” (John Denver), “Edelweiss”, and the hymn “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy”. She marveled that she had waited 82 years to meet her best friend.
A talented seamstress, an avid reader of history and biography, and a lover of words with a quick wit, Ann always looked for the small miracles in life and she found them everywhere. She was a teacher, first and foremost, and her example taught us all how to listen and affirm and appreciate the tiniest of joys in any given moment. Those of us lucky enough to be touched by her tenderness and kindness became better human beings. We carry her always in our hearts and will miss her beyond measure.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. Walter Eugene Wilkins and Katherine Gibbs Wilkins, both of Mars Hill, NC, and her sister Lady Gene Ennals (David) of London. She is survived by her daughter, Beth (Bruce) Burney of Brevard, NC; her son, Dr. Gray (Ruth) Snowden of Richmond, VA; and her daughter Amy (Jeff) Mather of Atlanta, GA. Her beloved grandchildren include Will Burney of Brevard, NC; Sam Burney of Atlanta, GA; Sophie Fisher of Chicago, IL; Lucas Snowden, student at Virginia Tech; Katherine Mather, student at Georgia State University; and Grace Mather, student at Furman University.
A family service and interment of ashes will be held in Mars Hill, NC, in the spring (date TBD). Donations in memory of Ann Lorge can be made to Mountain Laurel Animal Rescue, a local nonprofit organization that lovingly re-homed Ann’s cats. Address: PO Box 1509, Pisgah Forest, NC, 28768 or online at https://linktr.ee/MtnLaurelAR.
Online condolences may be left at www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com.