Anna Mae (Dixon) Wingate

Anna Mae Dixon Wingate, beloved mother, grandmother and friend, went to be with her Lord and her loved ones that went before her on Friday, April 7, 2017, at Chesapeake Woods Center, where she had been so lovingly cared for since June, 2015, when her health began to fail.

Anna Mae was born on May 5, 1922 in Lakesville, Maryland to William H. and Annie E. Dixon. She was the youngest of ten children. Anna Mae’s father died when she was just seven years old and her mother later married Thomas R. Hall, moving the family to his home in Madison, Maryland.

On September 29, 1945, Anna Mae married the love of her life, Donald N. Wingate. They resided in Baltimore for the first few years of marriage until moving back to Dorchester County and making a home in Madison, where Anna Mae then lived for more than six decades. Together, they had two sons, Norman Monroe Wingate, born in 1946, and Barry Dixon Wingate, born in 1949.

Anna Mae briefly worked in a sewing factory in Cambridge until Barry was born, at which time she decided to leave her job to raise her children and spend her life as a full-time homemaker. She and Donald loved traveling. Among their favorite destinations were Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Skyline Drive along the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. After losing her husband to a very short battle with lung cancer in May, 1982, Anna Mae poured herself into her family – specifically her granddaughter, Chrissy, her sprawling vegetable and flower gardens, which she and Donald had sowed and reaped together, and her community.

Anna Mae had an amazing green thumb, as proven by her rows and rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beets and beautifully colored Zinnias and Marigolds, as well as her bed of rose bushes. Always with far more than she and her family could eat, Anna Mae found joy in sharing her harvest with her neighbors and in canning tomatoes, pickled beets, bread and butter pickles, and jams and jellies. She and her next-door neighbor, and dearest friend, Marie Mills, spent countless hours in one another’s gardens and flower beds and enjoyed creating gorgeous flower arrangements for church events.

She was a remarkable home cook and took great pride in the Sunday meals she prepared for her family every week for more than 40 years. She was especially known for her fried chicken – a favorite at each and every church supper – her macaroni and cheese, and her three-layer cakes, especially the chocolate, coconut, lemon and banana varieties that were always baked for loved ones’ birthdays and Christmases. In addition to her family, Anna Mae loved cooking for neighbors and friends and she always had room at her kitchen table for an extra seat or two.

Before her rheumatoid arthritis no longer allowed her, Anna Mae enjoyed sewing and crocheting, creating a number of colorful blankets, pillows and holiday ornaments for family and friends. She also loved the holidays and with Marie would spend days decorating her Christmas tree and putting great thought into every detail of her elaborate Christmas gardens beneath the tree and throughout the house.

Having raised her family in Madison, where she spent most of her life, Anna Mae was devoted to her close-knit community and in return, was loved and respected by many. She had many wonderful memories of her dear friends and the years they spent raising their families together. She was a member of the Madison United Methodist Church and the Madison Church Organization. As an outreach project of the church, over the years, she sent thousands of cards to fellow church members, community members and people all over the country in need of get-well wishes, condolences or “thinking-of-you” messages. She was a key organizer of the church’s annual musicals and fall Homecoming services and the community dinners that followed those events. Anna Mae was also a lifetime member of the Madison Volunteer Fire Company, where she and her friends spent years volunteering and organizing fundraisers to support the needs of local fireman and emergency services members.

Anna Mae’s greatest joy and accomplishment was her close-knit family and she truly cherished the relationship shared with her two sons, her daughter-in-law, Susan, who she loved like a daughter, and the special bond she shared with her granddaughter. Some of her greatest memories were of the days she spent with Chrissy, playing outside on the swings, singing at the tops of their lungs, and having her living room floor completely covered in Barbie dolls and their accessories. The model grandmother, Anne Mae attended every school concert, play and church performance that Chrissy had a role in – never missing one. She enjoyed spending Saturdays “gallivanting” with Susan and Chrissy and looked forward to the family’s annual day-trip to Ocean City each summer, where she would splurge on some of her favorite snacks, including peanut butter saltwater taffy and caramel popcorn.

In later years, Anna Mae enjoyed spending time with Chrissy’s friends from high school and college and insisted that each and every one of them call her Mom Mom. Her lighthearted, young-at-heart spirit and cheerful demeanor made her a true joy to be around and despite the tremendous age difference, when Mom Mom was around, she was just one of the girls. She was an avid game show enthusiast and spent afternoons watching her “stories,” sitting in her recliner next to her stash of snacks and candy, and often with a crossword puzzle in hand.

Anna Mae is survived by her son, Barry Wingate and daughter-in-law of 45 years, Susan; granddaughter Christina (Chrissy) Wingate-Spence and her husband, Matt, who she loved like a grandson; and great-grandson, Dixon, her family’s namesake, who always brought a smile to her face -- she especially loved telling people that he was named after her. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews and a number of special people, who she loved for most of her life as if they were family, including Tissel Esham and her daughter, Bree Hurley, Sammy Horseman, David Horseman, Linda Willey, Ken Bright, Patty Lake and Gloria Frazier.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her stepfather; husband, Donald Wingate; son, Norman Wingate, who she lost to cancer in January, 2014; step-son, Donald T. Wingate, who she helped raise from childhood; siblings, Sangston, Edna, Lloyd, Jennings, Henry, Mildred, Monroe, Hazel and Lillian; and a number of dear family members and friends.

Funeral arrangements are being entrusted to Thomas Funeral Home, PA, in Cambridge. Services will be held at the funeral home, 700 Locust Street in Cambridge, on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 at 11:30 am. Family will receive friends one hour prior to the service, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The service will be officiated by Pastor David Stewart. Anna Mae will be laid to rest with her husband, Donald, a World War II veteran, at Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery (Beulah) in Hurlock, Maryland. Pallbearers will be Matt Spence, Sammy Horseman, Ken Bright, Patty Lake, Bobby Aaron and Jimmy Linthicum. David Horseman will be an honorary pallbearer. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that memorial contributions be made to Madison Volunteer Fire Department, c/o Sammy Horseman, 1047 Taylors Island Road, Madison, MD 21648 or Madison United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 6, Woolford, MD 21677.