Mary Taliaferro Lundquist

Mary Taliaferro (Tolly) Lundquist, (nee Parrish) was 87 years old when she passed away at the Air Force Village II retirement center in San Antonio, Texas on December 1, 2012. The cause of death was metastatic cancer.

Born in Rocky Mount, Virginia, May 20, 1925, to Flora Greer Parrish and Beverly S. Parrish, Tolly's family soon moved to Martinsville, Virginia where she spent her childhood, graduating from high school in 1943.

After graduation she was recruited for a training program to learn skills to support engineers in the Army Air Corp and was sent to work at Wright Airfield near Dayton, Ohio. There she met Gustav Edward 'Gus' Lundquist, a young test pilot.

After only two months, Gus was sent to England to deliver a plane and through a series of events ended up as a prisoner at Stalag Luft 1 in Germany. Tolly had no idea what had happened to him.

After the war ended, Gus returned to the U.S., found Tolly and they married in 1945, beginning a life together that would take her to many places including: Springfield, Illinois; Muroc Air Base (now Edwards Air Base) in southern California; Panama; Washington, DC; Raleigh, NC; Hatchford Park, England; Colorado Springs, CO; Bedford, MA; Rome, NY; Tullahoma, TN; Fairfax, VA; Hilton Head, SC; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Callawassie Island, SC; Aiken, SC; San Antonio, TX.

Tolly is survived by 1 son and 2 daughters; 4 grandchildren; and a nephew.

She was predeceased by her husband, USAF Brigadier General Gustav E. Lundquist, (11/19/1919 - 2/5/2008) who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, where she also will be laid to rest on Monday, January 7, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.

She was much loved and will be greatly missed.

Memorial donations may be made to: Christ Episcopal Church, Attn: Beverly Parrish Scholarship Fund, 311 East Church Street Martinsville, Virginia 24112.