Ann Hollingsworth McLain

Ann Hollingsworth McLain, widow of Joseph H. McLain and First Lady of Washington College from 1973-1981, passed away on Wednesday, December 3, 2014, at Heron Point in Chestertown. She was 94. Mrs. McLain was born to Mr. and Mrs. G. Vickers Hollingsworth, Sr., in Church Hill in Queen Anne’s County, MD, in 1920. She was educated in public schools there, before following in her brothers’ footsteps and entering Washington College in 1936 at the age of sixteen. While in college she majored in mathematics, played field hockey and basketball for four years, was recognized for being meritorious in scholarship, and served as secretary and president of the Girls’ Intercollegiate Athletic Association, treasurer and vice-president of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and secretary and president of the YWCA chapter. After her graduation in 1940, Mrs. McLain moved to Baltimore, staying at the Girls’ Friendly, a downtown boarding house affiliated with the Episcopal Church. She worked at the Calvert Distillery in Relay, calculating taxes due on the whiskey to be shipped to various states. She and her husband were married at St. Luke’s Church in Church Hill in 1941. The reception was held at the Queen Anne’s County farm that has been owned by her family since 1668. The couple settled in Baltimore. In 1946 Dr. and Mrs. McLain and their first child moved to Chestertown, where Dr. McLain joined the chemistry faculty at Washington College. Mrs. McLain raised their two daughters and was active in the community as a 4-H leader, Brownie leader, garden club member, and hospital volunteer. She was on the founding committee of the Women’s League of Washington College, was a longtime alumna advisor to her sorority, served as an early board member of the Heron Point continuing retirement community, and was a member of the Colonial Dames Society. As a member of Emmanuel Church, she taught Sunday school, worked in the kitchen, and served on the flower and altar guilds. Mrs. McLain enjoyed entertaining, playing contract and duplicate bridge, and supporting Washington College athletics, Duke basketball, and Orioles baseball. Mrs. McLain and her friend, Fredrica McDorman, organized an annual bridge party fundraiser for the American Cancer Society for several decades. Mrs. McLain was well-known as a gracious hostess, whose home was always welcoming. Dr. McLain is the only alumnus to have served as president of Washington College since its founding in 1782, and Mrs. McLain is the only alumna to have been its First Lady. In that role, she often served Eastern Shore specialties, such as wild goose, beaten biscuits, and her homemade chicken salad and crab salad. Every summer her grandchildren and great-grandchildren made extended visits, learning to swim, fish, ride bicycles, play cribbage, and pick hard crabs at her waterfront home. She moved to Heron Point in 2011. Mrs. McLain is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth McLain Fitzhugh of West Berlin, VT, and Lynn McLain of Chestertown; four grandchildren, Ann Deppman and Jed Deppman of Oberlin, OH, Benjamin Deppman of Middlebury, VT, and Jeb Cook of Baltimore, MD; and eight great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband and her two brothers. Interment will be at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 9, 2014, at Church Hill Cemetery. Services will be held at 11 a.m. on the same day at Emmanuel Church, 110 North Cross St, Chestertown, MD. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to either the McLain-Hollingsworth Scholarship Fund, Washington College, 300 Washington Ave, Chestertown, MD 21620; Emmanuel Church, PO Box 875, Chestertown, MD 21620; or Compass Regional Hospice, 255 Comet Drive, Centreville, MD 21617. The family wishes to thank Dr. Helen Noble, the nursing staff of Heron Point, and Compass Regional Hospice for their loving and considerate care.

Ann Hollingsworth McLain

January 12, 1920 - December 3, 2014