Obituary of Ann B. Cockrell

Ann Baines Cockrell passed away on September 22, 2022 in Chapel Hill, NC. She was 82. She was born on June 26, 1940 in Washington, DC and raised in Kensington, Maryland. Family and many friends knew her as “Penny.”

She attended Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, and graduated from Duke University in 1962, where she majored in history. She later earned a master’s degree in education from The Johns Hopkins University and taught reading and social studies at various schools including Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, where she taught for nearly two decades. Always a lover of horses, she ran a riding school at White Oak Farm in Clarksville, Maryland for many years and was the co-founder of The Grey Pony tack shop and saddlery.

Ann retired from teaching in 2005 and moved to Chapel Hill, NC, where she became active in the Binkley Baptist Church. She was an avid gardener and always had a beautiful yard full of flowers, vegetables, and blueberry bushes. She loved the outdoors, animals, and birds, and enjoyed walking her dog around her wooded property and other trails near her home. She also loved spending time with her grandchildren, attending their various sports events and musical performances, going on beach trips, and gathering for holidays.

She is survived by her two sisters, Josie Mott of Charlottesville, Virginia and Mary McIntire of Baltimore, Maryland; her three daughters, JoAnna Younts of Chapel Hill, NC, Martha Campbell of Highland, Maryland, and Charlotte Cockrell of Manakin Sabot, Virginia; and nine grandchildren.

A celebration of Ann’s life will be held at Binkley Baptist Church on Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Triangle Land Conservancy (Durham, NC) or Saving Grace Animals for Adoption (Wake Forest, NC).