Ann Carter Silver

Ann Carter Wendenburg Silver of Williamsburg died peacefully on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. She was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 62 years, Hayden Judson Silver, Jr., her parents, Louis Elliott Wendenburg and Sara Elizabeth Fox, and her sister, Sara Lou McRee; and is survived by her three children, Hayden Judson Silver, III (“Jay”), Wendy Ann Bugg (Wadsworth Bugg, III), and Margaret Elizabeth Burton (“Betsy”) (James Edward Burton, IV), and grandchildren, Elizabeth Bugg Hern, Wadsworth Bugg, IV, Taylor Silver Fitzgerald, James Edward Burton, V, Hannah Corinne Silver Ly, William Prater Burton, Louis Judson Burton, Wright Tracy Dixon IV and James Stevens Dixon; and seven great grandchildren.

Ann Carter and Hayden married just before her graduation from Longwood College, and over the next four years had three children in quick succession during Hayden’s career as a pilot in the Air Force. Eventually settling in Virginia, Ann Carter taught kindergarten at Ferry Farms Elementary in Fredericksburg, and then at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond. Like many working moms of her generation, she seamlessly balanced work, meals, laundry, and kids’ homework; she dove into bridge club, dinner parties, family camping vacations, and church life.

After over a decade in Richmond, Ann Carter and Hayden moved to Poughkeepsie, NY, and for the next 20 years she was a true community leader in the Hudson Valley: President of her P.E.O. chapter, President of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, and an elder on the Consistory at New Hackensack Reformed Church. She was a native Virginian who found lifelong joy in her many Hudson Valley friendships.

Ann Carter and Hayden retired to homes in Williamsburg and on the Great Wicomico River in Virginia. Ann Carter delighted in being a grandmother: hosting family holiday gatherings and Busch Gardens excursions, taking grandchildren abroad or to New York for trips, or boating, fishing and crabbing on summer days. It was part of her DNA to want to know everything at all times about her family’s goings and comings; above all, she adored her children and her grandchildren, and valued beyond measure how her family had grown and flourished during her lifetime.

Upon moving to Williamsburg Landing in 2011, Ann Carter remained active in her P.E.O. chapter, resumed her lifelong interest in painting and drawing, and until recently was walking the halls of the Landing daily, where she was friends with residents and staff, young and old alike. They called her “the Mayor” because she was ever present, offered care, support and conversation to everyone, and made it her goal to find out who was doing what and where. The family is grateful for the attention, warmth and love all of the staff bestowed on Ann Carter during her years at the Landing. She truly was integral to the wonderful tapestry of life at the Landing.

A graveside service in Ann Carter’s memory will be held at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Online condolences may be shared at www.NelsenWilliamsburg.com.