Anna Lenora Tye

Tye, Anna Lenora Hill (Ann) - Our loving mom died peacefully Thursday, February 19, 2026, in Fort Walton Beach, FL at the age of 103. She was born October 24, 1922, in Cornelia, GA to mother, Frances Emmeline Kimsey and father, George Ross Hill.

Mom met Lt. Rennie Virgil Tye at the local swimming pool in Cornelia, GA, when she was nineteen. He was training Army enlistees for jump school at Camp Toccoa, GA. They were married in 1942 in Walhalla, South Carolina, months before he left for England with the 101st Airborne 506th PIR. Rennie wrote to Ann from the war nearly every day. They were happily married for sixty-five years.

Mom loved to sail with her family in the Gulf of Mexico. She was an excellent cook and a skilled bridge player. She performed for years with the Sugar Beach Chorus and possessed a fabulous singing voice. She had a wonderful (often bawdy) sense of humor and unmatched grit and strength. In her later years, she enjoyed traveling the world with RV and her friends. She even traveled to the Amazon and Patagonia with RV and to Dubai with her girlfriends when she was well into her nineties. When asked which historical figure she most identified with, she immediately answered, "The Suffragettes." Her idea of perfect happiness was having a vodka tonic with her husband at 5:00 p.m.

Special thanks to her compassionate caregivers who helped Mom in countless ways and to her marvelous friend, Mary Bland for her unwavering kindness and support. In addition, Ann is remembered by her extended family across the country and by her friends at the Surf Dweller on Okaloosa Island, where she lived for many years.

Ann's wishes were to have her life celebrated by her immediate family. Her ashes will be scattered in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico, which she enjoyed every day for the last forty-eight years.

She is survived by her three children: Thomas Rennie Tye of Spring Branch, TX (wife Lori); Jeffrey Ross Tye of Tucson, AZ; and Grant Kimsey Tye of Lake Forest, IL (wife Christiana). She was preceded in death by her daughter, Kathryn Ann Tye. She is also survived by her three grandchildren: Samuel Rennie Tye of San Marcos, TX; Evan Kimsey Tye of Tucson, AZ; and Caroline Kimsey Tye of Lake Forest, IL.

Our conversations with our captivating and funny Mom always ended with our singing "Goodnight Sweetheart" together. "Goodnight Sweetheart, well it's time to go. Goodnight Sweetheart, well it's time to go. I hate to leave you, but I really must say, Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight."

Goodnight Mom. May she rest in peace.