Ann Brown Pace

Ann Brown Pace died on October 6, 2009, at Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., of pneumonia. Born with her twin sister, Betty, on July 24, 1928, she was raised in Rocky Mount, Va., to which she returned in 1989 after the death of her husband. She was the daughter of Walter C. Brown, a Rocky Mount banker, and Alverta Simpson Brown. She was educated in the public schools of Franklin County and graduated from Rocky Mount High School in 1945, then attended Lynchburg College with her twin, where Ann obtained her bachelor's degree in 1949. Upon graduation, she obtained a job teaching at Ridgeway Elementary School in Henry County. It was there Ann met her husband, Robert E. Pace. Following an additional year of teaching at Glade Hill Elementary School in Franklin County, she married Bob in 1951.
The couple resided, in turn, in Roanoke and Salem, in Downey, Ill., in Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem, N.C., and finally in Terre Haute, Ind., as Bob pursued graduate degrees in anthropology, worked for the Veterans Administration in the treatment of mental issues of World War II veterans, and finally taught anthropology at Wake Forest University and Indiana State University. Along the way the family grew by the addition of two sons, Robert Stephen Pace in 1954 and Richard Brown Pace in 1956.
Ann remained close to her family in Rocky Mount and returned home with the boys annually while Bob devoted time to his studies in archaeology and to fieldwork with native Americans and at numerous "digs." When she lost Bob to cancer within a year of his retirement from Indiana State, Ann returned to her home town and constructed a home where she resided until a few months before her death.
A victim of polio as a toddler, Ann overcame the effect of the disease and lived a long and active life. As with so many of her generation who successfully dealt with polio, however, she suffered post-polio syndrome in later years as muscles strained over time to compensate for polio damage gradually weakened. Ultimately she became wheelchair confined and dependent upon others for her mobility. Nevertheless, she coped in typical upbeat fashion, always looking forward to her passion, another game of bridge, or to a visit from her children and grandchildren.
In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Walter Chester Brown; by her twin sister, Betty Brown Shearer; and brother-in-law, John Adams Shearer. She is survived by her sons and their spouses, Robert Stephen and Hazel Pace, of Mill Hill, London, England, and Richard Brown and Olga Pace, of Rockvale, Tenn.; by four grandchildren, Felicity, Barnaby, Cindy and Annie Pace; by her brother, Daniel S. Brown and sister-in-law, Suzanne M. Brown, of Roanoke; sisters-in-law, Lois Lindsay Brown, of Rocky Mount and Mary Pace McGee, of Ridgeway; brother-in-law, Mark Pace and his wife, Pam; and numerous nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews, most especially her niece, Nettie Shearer.
The family acknowledges with gratitude the assistance rendered to Ann by her caregivers, Robin Davis and Lisa Ferguson.
A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, 2009, at Rocky Mount Christian Church, 120 S. Main Street in Rocky Mount. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the American Cancer Society, or to your favorite charity.