Adrienne George

Adrienne Ruth George, 75, of Washington, D.C., passed away peacefully on December 26th, 2025. Adrienne (also known as Ade) was born in Pittsburgh, PA on July 22, 1950 to Austen George and Ruth Donnelly George. She went to Peabody High School, class of 1968 and was the valedictorian of her class.

Adrienne received a Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College, Summa cum laude, in 1972. She worked in advertising for a year, then received a Marshall Scholarship to attend Oxford University, Oxford, England, where she graduated with an M.Phil in Victorian Literature, specializing in the novels of George Elliott and the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Her college at Oxford was Lady Margaret Hall.

After graduation, she was accepted at Harvard and Yale Universities to pursue her PhD in English Literature, but opted instead to work as a paralegal for Goodwin, Procter, and Hoar in Boston, then in advertising. After relocating to Washington, D.C., she began working for Time-Life Books and became a Writer-Editor there. When Time-Life Books folded, she attended Georgetown Law School in Washington, D.C., then practiced law for several years with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Humble by nature, a good friend to all, she was modest, loving, deeply caring, and a loyal booster of her friends and family. Above all, her greatest joy was being a mother and grandmother.

Adrienne is survived by her husband, Ken Ludwig, a playwright, by her daughter Olivia, her son Jack, her two grandchildren, Kinsley, and Reagan, her son-in-law Anthony Wessel, her brother-in-law, Eugene Ludwig, former Comptroller of the Currency of the United States, her sister-in-law Carol Ludwig, her nephew, David, and her nieces, Abigail and Elizabeth.

In memory of Adrienne, a donation to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research or Bryn Mawr College would honor her lifelong love for education.

A celebration of life will be held for friends and family on a date to be announced.