Ann Louise Maske Reynolds

Ann Louise Maske Reynolds, 87, died at UNC-Rex Healthcare on September 2, 2017. A native of Mount Gilead, Montgomery County, North Carolina, she was the daughter of John Brown Maske (1905-1973) and Lula Tempe Sasser (1903-1972). Her grandfather Charlie Castor Maske (1873-1949) was a farmer who lived at RFD #2. The Maske family name is derived from a pet form of the personal name Tommaso. It originated in medieval Europe between 1100 A.D. and 1200 A.D.

My mother’s great grandfather, John Dudley Maske (1832-1909), came to Mount Gilead before July 1857. A veteran of the Confederate States of America he joined the army in Wake County on July 16, 1862. John Dudley served the Confederacy as a Private in Company C, North Carolina 14th Infantry Regiment.

Ann Reynolds was especially fond of her paternal grandmother Annie Laurie Matheson (1875-1925). Annie was the daughter of Malcolm Daniel Matheson (1822-1917) of Sunderland, Scotland. When the Mathesons arrived in North Carolina they settled in Pee Dee. Annie Laurie was born there on April 2, 1875.

As a teenager my mother’s friends and relatives often compared her kind and altruistic nature to her grandmother’s. Ann adored an antique picture of Annie Laurie. She hung the heirloom on the living room of our Cary home. In the photograph Grandma Matheson is holding mom’s father when he was a baby. Brown was her youngest child. As an adult he farmed and made chairs. Later he was employed by the North Carolina State Highway Commission.

Ann Maske fell in love with Robert Grey Bob Reynolds Sr., a star fullback at Troy High School, Mt. Gilead’s heated rival. She cheered unabashedly for him and his Trojan football teammates. Hoping to subdue her exuberance, on one occasion an angry Mount Gilead partisan placed his hand over Ann’s mouth.

On August 27, 1949 Bob and Ann wed at the Presbyterian Church in Mount Gilead. Before her husband started a career in the dairy business Ann and Bob traveled extensively. Several of their trips took them through the Blue Ridge Mountains and to Washington, D.C. Mom had a favorite uncle in Silver Spring, Maryland. She enjoyed spending time with him and his wife at their Sligo Park home. On another trek they traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Bob’s uncle was in the insurance business there. Frank Burroughs also managed a local YMCA. Mom remembered him grilling hamburgers when they arrived at his home in dad’s 1940 Ford.

Among Ann’s favorite pastimes was wild flowers. She enjoyed getting her hands dirty in the soil while cultivating beautiful plants. Her front yard flower garden was replete with maidenhair ferns, lilies, jack in the pulpits, snapdragons and other beauties. She shared her passion for flowers with my Aunt Rita Reynolds. The two of them spent numerous fun hours together enjoying their cherished hobby.

Some years ago Ann came across a baby Squirrel which she named Button. She found the small rodent in our backyard, abandoned by its mother. Raising Button to maturity was a journey I enjoyed sharing with my mother. At first we fed him Enfamil through a medicine dropper. As he matured Button began munching on a variety of nuts. An Eastern Gray squirrel, he grew fond of nibbling apples, grapes, sweet potatoes and various seeds. We also fed these foods to local birds. Ann welcomed all types of feathery friends. She was especially intrigued by wood thrushes and crows.

A child couldn’t hope for a better mother than mine was. I remember her work as a dedicated grade mother chairman for my second grade class at Briarcliff Elementary. During the 1967-1968 school year my teacher was Bonnie Wyland She loved to paint and sculpt in her free time. She also happened to be the wife of Bill Wyland, a fullback on N.C. State’s football team. Bonnie and mom hit it off immediately. Mom immersed herself in planning events that brought together both parents and children. She was involved in everything from coordinating individual grade mother tasks to maintaining the beauty of the classroom aquarium.

Ann’s passion for reading was immense and varied. She enjoyed historical and entertainment bios along with romances and true crime books. The Bronte Sisters, Emily and Charlotte, were two of her favorite authors. Their novels, Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, were among her most-liked works of fiction. She also enjoyed a variety of informative periodicals.

My mother’s devotion to my father was unparalleled. Sacrificing herself completely, she assisted him through multiple health problems. Following his first heart attack, in December 1973, Bob was beset by a host of sicknesses. They hindered his enjoyment of life for more than forty years, until his death in May 2015. Around 2013 Ann became ill with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Tragically, her health declined precipitously over a five-year period. The last two years she spent almost entirely at home, depending on oxygen to keep her alive.

Ann Reynolds is survived by her son Robert Grey Reynolds Jr. of Cary. Two brothers, Bobby Charles Maske of Fuquay and Thomas Malcolm Maske of Charlotte, also survive her. Her brother Billy Brown Maske, 29, died an untimely death on June 8, 1968. I am especially grateful to Rita Reynolds and my neighbor Tom Byrd and Allison Byrd Blazer. Without their great assistance I couldn’t have continued caring for mom at home throughout her extended illness.

Arrangements under the direction of Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Cary, North Carolina.