Ada W. Fanning

Ada Wall Fanning passed away peacefully June10th 2017 of natural causes; she was 96.

Mrs. Fanning was born on September 29, 1920 in Bush, Mississippi to Dr. and Mrs. Zeno Wall. When she was two, the family moved to Shelby, North Carolina, where Dr. Wall was called to build the First Baptist Church.  Mrs. Fanning was preceded in death by her husband of 70 years, Walter Lee Fanning. She is survived by her two sons: Dr. Walter Lee Fanning Jr., his wife, Claudia, and Steven Wall Fanning, six grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.

 Throughout her life Mrs. Fanning was a devoted member to the communities in which she lived, actively participating in a range of church, cultural, and social activities.

 During her youth in North Carolina and then as a newlywed, she taught Bible Class at the First Baptist Church of Shelby, she was a charter member and president of the Tuesday Forum Book Club, and member of the Junior Charity League.

 In 1954 the young Fanning family relocated to Ridgewood, New Jersey. There, along with her cultural contributions, Mrs. Fanning taught Sunday School, was president for Women of Emmanuel at the Emmanuel Baptist Church. She served on the Baptist Homes and Nursing Homes Board of Governors for 20 years and was one of the first women to chair the Board of Deacons for the American Baptist Convention, and the first to do so at Emmanuel Baptist in New Jersey. Always socially minded with a desire to be of service, she worked as a drug counselor and sat on the board at Valley Hospital, as well as volunteering for the lunch services initiatives and teaching reading at the inner city Montessori School in Newark, New Jersey.

 In later years, Mrs. Fanning and her husband, Walter, returned to their beloved North Carolina, delighting in and dividing their time between Davidson at the Pines and Blowing Rock.

 A service celebrating her life will be held in the Lingle Chapel of the Davidson College Presbyterian Church in Davidson, North Carolina, June 30th, 2017 at12:30 PM o’clock.