Mary Anne Chew

CHEW (Beach), Mary Anne

Mary Anne Beach Chew died in Portland, Oregon, on August 16, 2024. The eldest child of Ruth Meyer Beach and Robert Edgar Beach, Mary Anne was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 25, 1942. When she was 6, the family moved from West Hartford to Manchester, Connecticut, where she graduated from Manchester High School as valedictorian in 1960. Mary Anne went on to study at Wellesley College, earning a BA in English in 1964.

After college, she took a job as a Written Analysis of Cases grader at the Harvard Business School, where she met her husband, Frank, then an MBA student. She also earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Harvard in 1966. Mary Anne and Frank married in 1965 and moved to Atlanta the following year when he started work at Delta Air Lines. From 1966 to 1970, Mary Anne taught English, first at Morris Brandon Elementary School and then at Dykes High School in Atlanta. She became a mother in 1970 with the birth of daughter Adrienne and rounded out the family with son Nicholas in 1973.

Mary Anne was deeply involved in a number of organizations and pursuits. One of her first loves was theater, and she wrote and directed several productions at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA), where she also served as board president, took part in many committees, and sang in the choir. Her other volunteer activities included working with the Atlanta/Fulton County League of Women Voters and acting in Plays for Living.

Returning to the theater in a behind-the-scenes professional capacity, Mary Anne worked at the Academy Theatre and Horizon Theatre Company doing public relations, marketing, and a little of everything else. Even after retiring from Horizon, she remained on its board for 12 years and was president for two. She also led PR and marketing efforts for the Underground Theatre at UUCA and filled in briefly at the Alliance Theatre. In 2004, she and Frank were named Atlanta's WABE FM-90 Lexus Leaders of the Arts.

Mary Anne loved attending plays in Atlanta, New York, and the Pacific Northwest. She and Frank were season ticketholders of the Atlanta Symphony for many years and enjoyed concerts at Spivey Hall and Tanglewood. Always up for an adventure, she traveled extensively throughout the US, to many countries in Europe, as well as Taiwan and Kenya. A dedicated Wellesley alumna, she attended nearly all of her reunions, was an active member of the Atlanta Wellesley Club, and maintained many friendships with fellow alumnae.

Mary Anne and Frank lived in Brookwood Hills for 50 years, making lifelong friends there and around Atlanta. But in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, they moved to the Willamette View senior community in Portland, Oregon, to be closer to Nicholas and his family, in Portland, and Adrienne in Seattle. In her almost four years there, Mary Anne embraced the community, took part in activities like the nonfiction book group, chorus, and French table, and was loved by many.

She is survived by her husband, Frank; daughter, Adrienne (Heather Warncke); son, Nicholas (Whitney Frisch); and grandchildren, Nina and Birch; siblings, Robert E. Beach, Jr. (Susan), and Margaret Bye (Richard Donk). She was predeceased by her parents, Ruth Meyer Beach Friend and Robert E. Beach.

A Celebration of Life will take place at Willamette View in Portland, Oregon, on a date to be determined. A later celebration will be planned to take place in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Horizon Theatre Company, Wellesley College, or the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta.