Ann McCormick McQuillan

1951 - 2025

Ann McCormick McQuillan died on March 5, 2025, surrounded by her loving family at home in Arlington, VA, after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She is survived by her beloved siblings Terry (Keith Enstice; Sonoma, Ca.), Michael (Mary; Arlington, VA), and Kathleen (Doug Berg; Enola, PA). She also is survived by nieces and nephews Timothy and Emily (Michael Doonan) Enstice, Charles (Mary) McCormick, Maureen (James) Harlow, Francis (Dawkins Crawford) McCormick, Erin (Brian) Waldorf, Megan Berg, Elizabeth (Craig Rowling) and Thomas Gerke, and William Blankenship, as well as grandnieces and grandnephews Finnegan, Colin and Hannah McCormick, Isabel and Alice Harlow, and Olive, Felix and Birdie Doonan. Ann was predeceased by her husband, Thomas H. McQuillan, and her parents, Isabel and Charles McCormick.

Born July 9, 1951, in Malone, NY, Ann was the oldest of Isabel and Charlie's four children. She attended Chateaugay Central School, St. Joseph's Ursuline Academy, and D'Youville College in Buffalo, NY, where she earned a B.S. in history. Immediately after graduation in 1973, Ann began her career in Princeton, NJ, where she met Tom, and they were married in October 1980 after seven years of courtship. Ann and Tom relocated to the Washington, DC, area in January 1982, which they were happy to call home ever since.

Ann was a proud and dedicated civil servant for nearly four decades before retiring in 2014. She started her career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, working in the Food Stamp Program, and then transitioned to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ann often said that she "worked for the 'human' part of Health and Human Services," focusing on programs that provided food, shelter, and resources to those Americans who needed extra help. In 1998, she also spent a year working on Capitol Hill as a Congressional Fellow with Rep. Pete Stark (D-Ca.) to further alleviate the plight of women in need of government assistance.

Caring for the vulnerable in society was a throughline in Ann's life, and she was active and generous in her community. Ann was especially involved with New Endeavors by Women (NEW) which provides housing, fosters the development of life skills, and promotes education and employment to end the cycle of homelessness. Ann served on the NEW board of directors for several years and was an enthusiastic fundraiser for the "Moving Out of Homelessness" silent auction, an event that is held each year in the fall. Ann was also a loving mother to three golden retrievers – Fergus (d. 2009), Connor (d. 2014), and Callum, who will celebrate his seventh birthday next month.

Viewing will be held on Thursday, March 13, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Everly-Wheatley Funeral Home, 1500 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria, VA. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 14, at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 1427 W Braddock Rd., Alexandria, VA. Interment will be at St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery, Chateaugay, NY, later this spring.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Ann's memory may be made to the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart at www.greynun.org.