On
March 29, 2025, three days after celebrating her 92nd birthday, Mary
Ann passed away peacefully at the University of Vermont Medical
Center, surrounded by her family. Mary Ann was known for her kindness
and curiosity, and she will be dearly missed.
Mary
Ann (Peck) Wolf was born in Newton Lower Falls, Mass., to Elizabeth
Tully Peck and Irving Kellogg Peck. When she was 3, her family moved
to Binghamton, N.Y., where she attended elementary and middle school.
Mary Ann loved ice skating, designing her own clothes and playing
with her sister Joan, and she was a dedicated piano student of Joseph
Esposito. At age 13, her family moved to Pittsburgh, Pa., where she
attended junior and senior high.
Mary
Ann graduated from Cornell University in 1955 with a BS in textiles
and clothing. She met Charlie in her senior year, and they married
the following October. Mary Ann and Charlie had three children,
Robert Lewis Wolf, William Peck Wolf and Karen Ann Wolf. They moved
10 times in the first 10 years of marriage with their young boys,
from U.S. Army bases in New Jersey and Arizona to graduate student
housing in New York City, and eventually settled in Vermont, where
Karen was born. Mary Ann created a loving home and always provided
healthy, home-cooked meals for the family.
Mary
Ann was an active and generous member of her community. In
Burlington, she worked at UVM’s Continuing Education Program and
the Women’s Studies Program, where she organized a women’s small
business exchange program with entrepreneurs in Petrozavodsk, Russia,
and made lifelong friends. She lectured at Weight Watchers, was a lay
pastor, and volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House, the Interfaith
Senior Citizen’s Center, the Committee on Temporary Shelter, the
Christian Action Committee, and various libraries where her children
and grandchildren went to school. She sang in church choirs at the
Williston Federated Church and First Congregational Church.
In
retirement she was a mentor in the Williston school system and helped
create the Williston Food Shelf and the Respite House. She was a
master gardener and always had a plot at a community garden in
addition to the flower beds and boxes at home.
Mary
Ann loved to travel. In the summer of 1954 she had a grand adventure
in Europe through the Danish Student Seminar, crossing the Atlantic
on a former navy vessel and sleeping in bunk beds. With her family,
she took a train to the Canadian Rockies; celebrated a Christmas
holiday in Salzburg, Austria; and went camping in the Hoh Rain
Forest. She traveled extensively in the U.S. and visited Ireland,
Turkey, Egypt, Newfoundland, Mexico, Australia, Russia and Fiji. In
true Mary Ann fashion, she wanted to explore national parks for her
80th birthday and took the family to Zion and Bryce to hike. She
said, “Traveling is an incurable disease I don’t want to be cured
from.” She told Charlie that she was at home wherever she was
because home was inside her.
Mary
Ann made friends easily and was welcoming to everyone. At the
Residence at Shelburne Bay, she helped new residents get oriented,
gardened and started a weekly group to arrange flowers for the dining
tables. She loved to read, especially historical fiction, and when
she began to lose her eyesight she became an avid audiobook listener.
After Charlie passed in 2023, Mary Ann maintained her bright and busy
lifestyle. She regularly met with friends to play mah-jongg, attended
exercise classes, and made jewelry for family and friends. She began
painting at age 91.
She
leaves behind her children and their partners, Bob Wolf and Cydney
Wolf, Willi Wolf and Alex Nowik, and Karen Sharpwolf
and Steve Sharp; beloved granddaughters Olivia Wolf, Caroline Wolf
and Sophia Sharp; nieces and nephews; dear friends; and her beautiful
cat, Pauli.
A
celebration of life will be held on June 14, 2025, 11 a.m., at the
First Congregational Church in Burlington, Vt.
In
her honor, please plant a beautiful garden or consider a donation to
the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
A
memorial guest book can be found at gregorycremation.com.