Mary Anne Boone "Mab" Flournoy

1940 - 2019

ATHENS - Wife, mother, sister and visionary philanthropist, Mary Anne Boone Flournoy, was born March 30, 1940 and passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Athens.
Mary Anne, or "Mab" as she was known to family and close friends, was a mentor and teacher to countless students and colleagues around the world. She dedicated her life to Truth-Telling. From teaching in the poorest inner-city and Appalachian elementary schools, to working with world leaders and renowned academics, Mary Anne treated everyone equally, and held them all to the same high standard.
An insatiable learner, each stage of her education at Rice University (BA), Johns Hopkins (MA) and Ohio University (PhD) deepened her passion for social justice and dedication to multi-cultural understanding. As a teacher at rural Waterloo Elementary School, Mary Anne waged war on school soda "pop" breaks, while inviting Ohio University international students to share cuisine and culture from their home countries with her 6th graders. As Associate Director of the Center for International Studies at Ohio University, Mary Anne formalized this program which has now introduced thousands of public school students across Southeast Ohio to university students from around the world.
Mary Anne's dedication to her community intensified after retiring from Ohio University. Devoted environmentalists, Mary Anne and beloved husband Don created the Sugar Bush Foundation in 2005 to foster university-community collaboration in environmentally sustainable economic development of Appalachian Ohio. Together they maintained a farm, forest and gardens of some 400 acres, powered it with solar panels, and protected it with conservation easements.
Mary Anne was a fierce supporter and defender of anchor social justice non-profits locally, chairing the boards of Rural Action and Planned Parenthood, and serving in multiple leadership roles at Christ Lutheran Church in Athens. Globally, Mary Anne ran teacher exchanges to Southern Africa and sponsored her friend and former OU colleague Prisca Nemapare to create the Zienzele Foundation for AIDS orphans and widows in Zimbabwe. Leadership was Mary Anne's true gift and calling. She taught and mentored generations of young women and men - many of whom now lead the organizations Mary Anne helped to build.
Mary Anne experienced her faith and spirit through the arts. An accomplished pianist, vocalist, and actress, she reveled in the hymns of Christ Lutheran Church, sang out with her sisters in the Calliope Feminist Choir, and took to the stage in several Ohio Valley Summer Theater productions. Mary Anne even created a clown alter-ego, named "Glad-is", to delight her grandchildren and kids from the community. She was devoted to her Feminism in Faith group, and discovered a gift for poetry late in life.
But nothing could surpass the love Mary Anne Flournoy, "Mab" and "Grandma Mab" had for her family. The greatest joy of her life was to sing, dance, travel, work, learn, play and laugh together with Don, her true partner of 56 years, children Hylie Voss and Eli Flournoy and their spouses Bruce and Jill, grandchildren Dakota and Cole Flournoy and Annie and Katie Voss. Born into the game-loving family of the late Dan and Henrietta Boone, family reunions with siblings Garrett Boone, Nancy Word and their families were filled with raucous laughter and gin rummy tournaments.
Mary Anne's family would be delighted to invite anyone who knew her to visit with us on Saturday, Dec. 14 at the First United Methodist Church, 2 S. College St. in downtown Athens, from 2-3 p.m. followed by a memorial celebration of her life from 3-4:30 p.m. Please watch this space for more details.
In lieu of flowers, Mary Anne would challenge you all to honor her legacy with a donation to the Sugar Bush Foundation https://www.ohio.edu/advancement/sugar-bush. Through the giving link, select "Friends of the Sugar Bush Foundation" from the dropdown menu. Checks can be made payable to The Ohio University Foundation, P.O. Box 869, Athens, OH 45701, with "Friends of the Sugar Bush Foundation" on the memo line.
Please share a memory, a note of condolence or sign the online register at www.jagersfuneralhome.com.