Anne Wise
Anne Wise, 92, the wife of the late Rev. Lewis Wise, died Jan. 29, 2019. A Celebration of Life Service was held Feb. 15, at the March Life Tribute Center in Laurel. A service was held in Statesville, N.C., Feb. 22 at the First Baptist Church with the Rev. J. W. Brunson officiating.
Anne Feimster Wise is the eighth of nine children born to the late farmer and traveling minister, Everett and Neppie Smith Feimster, Oct. 8,1926, in Iredell County, North Carolina. Educated in the segregated public school system, she completed her early education at Morningside High School. She first attended Bluefield College in West Virginia, to pursue an education major with a focus on early childhood learning. After a hiatus because of her mother’s early death from cancer, she returned to college enrolling at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. She relied on campus student employment and money sent from relatives to augment her scholarships and limited funds.
Soon after settling into college life, she met Lewis Wise, an upperclassman, who was completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology. He graduated in 1947 and they were married in 1948. She graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education.
Frequent moves were part of their lives. He served small and large churches in several cities, coming into the Baltimore-Washington Conference in the early 1960s. His appointments included the Centerville Circuit, 1965-1968, and South River UMC, 1968-1974. He went on a leave of absence and retired in 1979; they made their church affiliation First UMC in Hyattsville. He died Feb. 3, 2015.
Between 1951 and 1961, the Wises had three children. Their first born died at 11 months. They settled in Washington, D.C., with two young daughters around 1963. Anne Wise was established in elementary education while her husband served United Methodist parishes and was employed at the Pentagon.
Anne Wise’s unique and interactive teaching techniques were noticed and admired. She was selected to return to college and became one of the first certified physical education teachers to implement structured physical fitness programs in elementary school settings, part of an initiative that the Kennedy administration pursued to enhance children’s physical fitness.
Wise became active in the Wildercroft Church of Christ in their New Carrolton neighborhood, teaching Sunday school and providing support in many ways. Her ongoing interests included maintaining a beautifully decorated, orderly home; including adding an in-ground pool and enclosed porch.
Once the grandchildren started coming, she thought her grands were the best and the brightest. She was more than adequately equipped to tutor, teach life lessons, Bible lessons and show unconditional love for her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
“The life force of Anne Feimster Wise will reverberate well beyond her earthly years due to her faith, her grounding in family and Christian values, her generosity and her ability to see the good in others,” say her daughters.
Preceding her in death were her young son and eight siblings and their spouses.
Survivors include her daughters - Jewyll Davis of Laurel and Tonya Fitzgerald of New Carrolton; four grandchildren, two great grandchildren and many cousins, nieces and nephews.