Anne Morton Kimberly

Anne Morton Kimberly, age 94, passed away peacefully at her home in Easton, Maryland on Thursday, September 8. She was passionate about the environment, politics, and world travel. An equestrian, a skier, a lover of dance and music, and a conversationalist, she was often the belle of the ball and easily made friends wherever she went. Born Anne Prather Jones to Saunders Paul Jones II and Norris Witty Jones of Louisville, Kentucky, Mrs. Kimberly was seventh generation Kentuckian and traced her roots back to the Williamsburg Colony. She attended Great Barrington School, a finishing school in Europe, and the American Ballet School. In 1939, she married Rogers Clark Ballard Morton. After serving in WWII, Mr. Morton went on to represente the first district of Maryland in the House of Representatives. He was appointed chairman of The Rupublican National Committee and later became Secretary of Interior under Richard Nixon and Secretary of Commerce under Gerald Ford. Mr. Morton died in 1979. During WWII, Mrs. Kimberly worked as a nurse’s aid in Louisville City Free Hospital,while also managing the family farm in her husband’s absence. David Cummins Morton was born in 1941, followed in 1943 by his sister Anne Jones Morton. The family moved in 1953 to her beloved home, Presqu’ile, on the Wye, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Here she was the wife of a politician while she also pursued her many passions. Mrs. Kimberly had a great love for the environment. She served on the National Park Service Advisory Board from 1975-1981 and on the board of the World Wildlife Fund from 1983-1986. She famously and fearlessly appeared on the Today Show with a live wolf. She married John R. Kimberly, originally of Neenah, WI, in 1981. Mr. Kimberly, a long-time neighbor, was President and CEO of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation and very active various local non-profit organizations. Mrs. Kimberly loved world travel and had a gift for cultural exchange. She quietly gave scholarships enabling foreign students to partake of the American Way always with the understanding that they would return home. Mrs. Kimberly became enamored with Argentina. She took many trips, rented houses in the Bariloche region and made friends with many a gaucho. In the 1990s, her passion moved to Russia, where again she made many trips and friends, riding troikas, and attending ballet at the Bolshoi. Mrs. Kimberly, who was known as “Cat” by those close to her, is survived by her daughter, Anne Wyman, granddaughter, Elizabeth McCance, two great grand-daughters, and her brother Saunders Paul Jones III and his wife Jane, one niece and three nephews. She is also survived by three step-sons, 13 step-grand children, and 21 step-great grandchildren on the Kimberly side, all of whom she was close to. She was predeceased by her son, David. Services will be held on Tuesday, September 13 at noon at Old Wye Church in Wye Mills. Burial will follow at the Old Wye Church Cemetery.

Anne Morton Kimberly

May 20, 1917 - September 8, 2011