At about 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3, our wonderful, incredible mom, Marie Louise Peachee Wicker, passed away while sleeping. Peachee (as she was known) had been having severe trouble breathing since early in the morning; by the evening, she was able to rest, to sleep, and finally to depart. She passed away while in her own room at the DuBose Health Center at The Cedars of Chapel Hill, N.C., surrounded by her oldest daughter, Beth, her son, Thomas, and her son’s fiancée, Liliana. Earlier in the day, she had a chance to speak by video chat with her daughter Fields (then in Mumbai, India), and earlier in the week, also by video chat, with her granddaughter Mary Elizabeth in London, England.
Peachee led a remarkable life, from growing up in the Great Depression (her father was laid off from the Dodge Brothers Company in Detroit), to helping tend to the war wounded from the Battle of the Bulge (those that returned to the U.S. for further recuperation), being one of the first women to graduate from UNC with a master’s in psychology, becoming the first female placement director for the NCSU School of Engineering, helping integrate the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, aiding in developing the groundbreaking initiative First Start in Chapel Hill and, while a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board, being a driving force behind hiring school counselors for the elementary and middle schools in Chapel Hill. Peachee led Girl Scout troops for a number of years, exposing girls to the joys of nature and the arts.
After leaving the school board, Peachee remained very active in the community, volunteering at the N.C. Botanical Garden, becoming president of the Chapel Hill Woman’s Club and active at the state level, hosting a large number of foreign students who were studying at UNC-Chapel Hill (some of whom still call her Mom over 30 years later) and, for several years, organizing the Eagle Scout ceremonies for Boy Scout Troop 820 (a job that, when she left, was handed over to a group of three men; she considered the 1:3 ratio to be appropriate). She was also instrumental in the North Carolina Woman’s Club’s support of the N.C. Wildlife Federation, receiving recognition from them on this, and she became active with the Orange County Senior Center. In 2004, she moved to the Cedars of Chapel Hill, quickly becoming admired, loved and, not incidentally, known as a force to be reckoned with.
During all of this, Peachee maintained a strong focus on what she considered to be her greatest achievement and her greatest legacy: raising her three children. Nothing else she ever did gave her more pleasure or more pride, and she loved all of them dearly.
Peachee’s husband, Jake Wicker, passed away in 2003. She is survived by her three children and their families: Beth Wicker Walters with husband George Walters Jr. and daughter Mary Elizabeth Walters; (Jane) Fields Wicker-Miurin and husband Paolo Miurin; and son Thomas Wicker and fiancée Liliana Gerardo Paolmeque.
She was a wonderful, incredible and amazing person. We will miss her dearly. We already do.
A celebration of Peachee’s life is planned for Friday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. at the Clubhouse Ballroom at The Cedars of Chapel Hill. Friends are encouraged to come willing to share stories of Peachee’s life as we all remember her many kindnesses and achievements. In keeping with her love of tea and food, a casual “tea†will be served.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to an endowed scholarship in her honor at the University of Richmond (Peachee’s alma mater, and a college she was faithful to for her entire life):
The Marie Peachee Wicker Memorial Scholarship
c/o Laurel Hayward
Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship
University of Richmond,
28 Westhampton Way
Richmond, VA 23173
We would also ask, in keeping with Peachee’s lifelong desire to help others, that you bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to the local food bank in Peachee’s memory.Â