Anna Tomlinson Webb

Anna Tomlinson Webb, beloved wife of the late Van Wyck Webb, passed away on Thursday, July 28, 2011, after a long period of declining health. She was born on August 8, 1921 in High Point, North Carolina, the youngest child of Charles Fawcett and Mary (May) Lovelace Tomlinson. She was educated in the High Point public schools, where her father served as the Superintendent in his early career.

She attended Ward Belmont Junior College in Nashville, Tennessee and graduated from Woman’s College (now UNC-G), where her mother represented the school on the Executive Committee of the UNC Board of Trustees in the early 1950’s.

Following her graduation, Anna worked as a showroom designer for Tomlinson Furniture Company, a premier furniture manufacturer that was started by her uncle, Sidney H. Tomlinson, and joined by her father, who later became the first president of the Southern Furniture Exposition Building.

In 1947, she met and married Van Wyck Webb of Raleigh and they had a beautiful and loving marriage until his sudden death in 1996. With the exception of a five year period when her husband was associated with Wachovia Bank in Winston-Salem, she resided in Raleigh and embraced the community and its volunteer opportunities.

Anna was a longtime member of the Junior League of Raleigh, the Raleigh Fine Arts Society, and the National Society of the Colonial Dames in the State of North Carolina. In addition, she was a docent at the North Carolina Museum of Art and volunteered at the North Carolina Museum of iHH Hi History Gift Shop, Haywood Hall, Mordecai House and the Joel Lane House. She was an active member of the Episcopal Churchwomen of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church and a member of St. Margaret’s Chapter for many years.

Anna is survived by her three children, Van Wyck Webb, Jr. ; Mary Webb Baggett and her husband, Henry Clifford Baggett, MD; and Anna T. Webb Wheeless, all of Raleigh; as well as her grandsons, Joseph White Wheeless, IV of High Point, and William Alexander Wheeless of Raleigh. In addition, she is survived by three step-grandsons and their wives, Kip and Amy Baggett of Bangkok, Thailand; Ward and Cynthia Baggett of Raleigh and Powell and Emma Baggett of Greensboro. Her sister, Sarah Tomlinson Foscue of High Point, North Carolina survives her, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will receive visitors at the home of Mary and Cliff Baggett, 2518 Wake Drive, Raleigh, NC.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, August 1, 2011 at 11:00 am at Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church. A private family burial will be held in Oakwood Cemetery prior to the service. The family will receive guests in the Parish Hall following the service.

The family would like to thank the staffs of Whitaker Glen, Magnolia Glen and The Oaks of Mayview for their loving support and care during Anna’s final years. They especially would like to thank Polly Habuda for her outstanding care and deep friendship for the past seven years.

In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that you make memorial gifts to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 1520 Canterbury Road, Raleigh, NC 27608; Hospice of Wake County, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607 or the charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements to be handled by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 St. Mary’s Street, Raleigh, NC 27605.