Anne Hayes Tate

Anne Hayes Tate, age 78, passed away on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 surrounded by family. She was born on October 26, 1946. Anne was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She was an only child and lost her own parents and grandparents when she was a relatively young woman. This void in her life inspired her to develop very strong relationships with Jack’s two brothers, their wives and their families. She was also very devoted and cared deeply about Jack’s father, who lived to be 97.

Anne grew up in Raleigh and was a member of White Memorial Presbyterian Church from a very young age. Her parents and aunt were members of White Memorial, beginning in the 1940’s, over 85 years ago. After graduating from Broughton High School in 1964, Anne attended UNCG, earning her math degree in 1968.

Anne and Jack met at the UNC vs. NC State football game on September 19, 1964 when Jack was a freshman at UNC Chapel Hill and Anne was a freshman at UNCG. Anne’s cousin, Richard Wright, who was Jack’s roommate, arranged a blind date. The way Anne squeezed Jack's hand when she was getting back on a bus to go back to Greensboro was the beginning of a journey through life together that spanned over 60 years, including college and a 56-year marriage.

Anne also worked at Camp Pinecliffe in Harrison, Maine during summers in college. Camp Pinecliffe is a multi-generation, family-owned camp. Their focus was personal growth, encouraging each girl to understand that success in life is best measured by personal relationships and friendship.

Upon graduation from UNCG in 1968, Anne served as an Assistant Director of Admissions, tirelessly promoting UNCG across North Carolina and facilitating the admissions process for incoming students. In 1988, Anne’s passion for her alma mater led her to serve on the UNCG Alumni Board. Over the course of 30 years actively volunteering for the university, she served as the Alumni Association’s president, a gift officer for a capital campaign and was a key figure in the search committee for Chancellor Pat Sullivan.

Her unwavering commitment to UNCG extended further to the UNC system as she represented and led the Council of UNC Alumni Presidents. Anne was extremely proud to serve as a representative and eventually as President of the Council of UNC Alumni Presidents for the UNC system, presenting initiatives to the Board of Governors on behalf of UNCG on multiple occasions. Anne also served as a representative on the search committee for the hiring of a UNC System President during her tenure on the council.

Anne’s love for UNCG culminated in serving on her Vanguard class reunion committee, where she was instrumental in establishing the Class of 1968 UNCG Guarantee Scholarship Fund. Anne’s journey exemplifies her profound dedication to service, preserving the Alumni Association's significance and fostering a vibrant UNCG community.

Anne resigned from her UNCG job to follow Jack to Rhode Island. He had to interrupt the start of his career with Burlington Industries as he enlisted and spent four years serving our country with the U.S. Navy. Jack and Anne spent most of the first two years of marriage apart, with Jack being overseas in the Indian Ocean on a top-secret mission. They did not spend their first two anniversaries together, and Anne planned a second honeymoon when he returned.

Anne became an even stronger person as she had to figure out how to be a newlywed who needed to find a job while her husband was out of the country. She taught at the Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island during their military years. Lincoln is a private Quaker School whose educational philosophy incorporates the Quaker values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship into the lives of its students and faculty. These values resonated with Jack's family, as his mother and her twin sister had grown up as Quakers in Brooklyn, New York. Anne was always proud to have participated in the education of Meredith Viera, one of the NBC Today Show’s former news anchors. She many times said she was her best student.

The values Anne learned during the first 25 years of her life laid a foundation for her love of service. Her Broughton High School alma mater says “Opportunity for friendships, Guidance in our quest for truth, Faith through all our brave endeavors, Understanding, Love of Youth.”

Anne continued her service to her family and community when she moved back to North Carolina. Anne and Jack had their only child, Meg. Anne had a choice to be a stay-at-home mom or pursue a career. Instead of pursuing a career using her math degree, she chose to support Jack in his career and support Meg as a mom.

Once Anne and Jack moved to Smithfield in 1978, Anne’s involvement in Smithfield focused on service. She was very involved in their church and was proud to start the Mother’s Morning Out program for stay-at-home moms. She was president of the PTA and was always involved in Meg’s schools from primary school to high school.

When Burlington Industries, the largest textile company in the world, dissolved Jack and Anne were 52 years old. Jack needed to start a second career and Anne worked part-time at several jobs. She was so committed to her marriage that when she interviewed, and Jack was working full-time at Dillard's, that she had to have two weekdays off so she could be together with him. They made that work for Jack’s second seventeen-year job.

Anne held many positions, including teaching math at Johnston Community College, working at the Johnston County Heritage Center, and helping with marketing with Factory Stores of America. Anne held positions at the Johnston County Arts Council and the SPCA of Wake County. Anne also worked from home part-time for UNCG as a gift officer for their capital campaign and enjoyed her time being able to be creative with Smithfield City Florist.

The week before Anne passed away, her primary caregiver and Jack pushed Anne in a wheelchair down Duplin Road. She enjoyed talking to the builders as she had known Duplin Road from the age of three and Jack and Anne’s house was the first teardown on the street.

Anne was an avid gardener. She was passionate to care for the same yard she grew up and played in as a little girl. She loved the birds in the yard and enjoyed watching them feeding on the deck. Even in her last week, she enjoyed studying and learning about the birds with her primary caregiver. And she even enjoyed bringing nature into her home with her lovely orchids.

In addition to fighting her battle with cancer with the utmost bravery and grace, Anne left a legacy of lessons for her family. She taught her daughter and granddaughters how to love deeply, how to be authentically themselves, how to pour their hearts into what they are passionate about, how to be strong women in this crazy world and how to stand up for what they believe in. Anne was the epitome of strength.

Anne was preceded in death by her parents Hugh and Margaret Hayes and her aunt Elizabeth Hayes as well as Jack’s parents Shirley Marshall Tate and John C. Tate Jr.

She is survived by her husband John C. Tate III (Jack), her daughter Meg Tate Ergenzinger, and her granddaughters Ellie and Kate Ergenzinger, all of Raleigh. She is also survived by Jack’s brothers Dr. Robert M. Tate and wife Judy, of Longmont, CO; Dr. David A. Tate and wife Dr. Karen Davis of Chapel Hill; nieces Emily Tate (Will Rounds), Nat Tate, and Dr. Rebecca Tate Jones (Dr. Dane Jones); and great-nieces Eliza and Sophie Rounds and Caroline and Sophia Jones.

The family would like to thank all of the doctors, PA’s and nurses at the Cancer Center at UNC Rex Hospital as well as Transitions Hospice. Anne was the first patient to get chemotherapy at the new UNC-Rex Cancer Center which opened after her diagnosis. They would also like to thank all of the leaders and members of the White Memorial Cancer Companions group, which Jack and Anne participated in for three years, as well as her church circle and so many church members. We also thank the countless friends for their continued love and support.

Jack and Meg would like to thank their private caregivers for their love and dedication to giving Anne the best quality of life, over her last few weeks.

A Witness to the Resurrection service will take place at White Memorial Presbyterian Church on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 3:00pm. The family will receive friends immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to White Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1704 Oberlin Rd, Raleigh, NC 27608, or to the UNCG Class of 1968 Guarantee Scholarship Fund, UNCG Advancement Services, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170.

Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh is serving the Tate family.