Ann L. Tyson

Ann Tyson died peacefully in her sleep on April 5th, after a short battle with cancer just shy of her 89th birthday. Ann was born on April 26, 1926 in Chicago IL. She grew up in Evanston, Illinois with two younger sisters, Lolly and Mary. She attended college at Northwestern University and University of Minnesota where she was very involved in collegiate sailing and graduated Magna cum Laude. After college she returned home to Evanston and soon met Jim Tyson who had also sailed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He had a doctorate in Nuclear Physics and had been the Commodore of the MIT Sailing Club. They had a beautiful wedding in December 1950 and celebrated a surprise 50th wedding anniversary in December 2000 with all their children and close friends. From Evanston they moved to Yokohama Japan, Bethesda, MD, Newport, RI, Villefranche, France, Falls Church, VA and finally to Fairfax, Virginia in 1967 where she lived her last 50 years. Ann and Jim had a large family of two boys and five girls (Mary, James Jr., Ann, Molly, Robert, Katherine and Laura) who are all married and have produced 13 grandchildren and one on the way as well as two great grandchildren. Jim died 6 years ago in 2009. Ann was passionate about the theater and saved every Playbill from every performance she ever attended. She also enjoyed coaching and working with theater groups. She was also very involved with her College sorority, Delta, Delta, Delta and participated in book club meetings with her sorority sisters as recently as March. After her children had all grown, Ann began a career at Nordstrom which began the day the Tyson’s Corner store opened. After a lengthy 20 year career, she retired. During her retirement she kept quite busy volunteering for the Obama campaign. She also hosted young democrat interns in her big empty home, and was described by one British intern as his “American Grandmother”. She was thrilled to have been invited to both inaugurations and enjoyed receiving the Obama family Christmas card each year. When she wasn’t busy with her volunteer work, she loved knitting and crafted sweaters to all of her children and grandchildren over the years. Her sewing skills were remarkable as well and she handmade wedding, bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for three of her daughters. Some fun facts about Ann Tyson: She believed that Oreo’s and Chocolate were one of the major food groups. If you ever sent a letter or card to Ann, we can guarantee that it can be located somewhere in her house today. She never threw any correspondence away. Her guilty pleasure was watching Dancing With the Stars and reviewing it the next day with several of her daughters. Her potato soup was to die for. Her kids thought they would die if they ate it and came up with creative methods to discreetly dispose of it, including pouring it into plastic bags and tossing it out a nearby open window. She made great and successful efforts to teach her children to appreciate the arts and theater including taking them to Broadway plays and musicals. At a young age, her daughter Ann asked within five minutes of the curtain going up if the play was almost over. The creation of the annual Christmas card was on the order of a major theatrical production and embarrassed us to no end. Many of those cards are proudly displayed this evening. Ann was extremely creative in anything she did. Ann is survived by her sister Mary Broad , her seven children and their spouses, Mary Elizabeth and Lance St. John; James King Jr. and Sandy Tyson, Ann Madeleine and David Olsen, Margaret Grace Tyson and David Chesley, Robert William and Lori Tyson, Katherine Joan and William Talbot, Laura Jeanne Tyson and Axel Schoon. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren; Justin, Evan, Alison, Giles, Richard, Charles, David, Dain, Lydia, Jordan, Sarah, Lauren, Erica and number 14 on the way – Beau! Her two great grandchildren are Maxwell and Liam. Memorial contributions in Ann’s name may be made to Alternative House, P.O. Box 694; Dunn Loring, VA 22027 www.thealternativehouse.org Our dear mother, Ann Tyson will be missed by all of us and thought of every day.