Anne Whitley McThenia, 72, of Lexington, Va., died on Monday night, October 18, 2010, in her home, surrounded by her children, husband and dear friends.

After a long hospitalization, she returned to Lexington on Sunday with compassionate care from Rockbridge Area Hospice, and spent her final two days in peace and comfort at home.

She is survived by her husband, Andrew Wolfe McThenia Jr.; her brother, William Talmadge Whitley Jr. and her sister-in-law, Kaki Whitley; her children Paige, Andy and Tal; sons-in-law, Jon Adams and Brett Berk; and three grandchildren.

Anne was born on March 25, 1938, to Sarah Anne and Bill Whitley in Memphis, Tenn., where she grew up.

Presaging a lifetime passion for photography, she wrote home from summer camp as a girl, "Dear Mother: Will you send me my camera and two rolls of film? Some of the things here are so pretty I almost have to take a picture of them."

Anne studied psychology at Randolph Macon Women's College in Lynchburg, graduating in 1960. While at Randolph Macon, she met her future husband, Andrew Wolfe McThenia, otherwise known as "Uncas," and they were married in 1962. After several years in Alexandria, Va., they moved to Lexington, where they raised their three children, Paige, Andy and Tal in their Rockbridge County home.

In the 1970's, Anne was active in the League of Women Voters and was President of the Rockbridge County Mental Health Association. After earning her Master's Degree in Counseling from James Madison University, Anne helped start Alcohol Services of Rockbridge, where she served in a variety of capacities for the next two decades, President, Secretary/Treasurer, and individual and group counselor for substance abuse treatment.

Through her own struggles with addiction, Anne became a good friend of Bill Wilson. Anne worked as a student counselor for Hollins University in Roanoke and for Washington and Lee University in Lexington, before starting her own counseling practice in 1992. She retired in 2000. From 1998 to the present, Anne was active with Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity, as committee member, committee chair and board chair for two years. She was instrumental in forging links and partnerships between Habitat and area communities of faith, and expanding Habitat's role in the Rockbridge community more broadly. With several others, Anne led the Lexington Area Ministerial Association Build on Taylor Street. Habitat's Executive Director, Dan Walz said, "Anne's committment and influence will continue to guide Habitiat in the future."

In recent years, Anne pursued her interest in photography more formally. She trained through workshops and mentorships, showed her work locally, and was an active member of the Rockbridge Camera Club.

She and Uncas became near-professional travelers and adoring grandparents, and during her later years, Anne's abiding devotion to gardening and birding were still in full flourish. As a mother, spouse, friend and counselor, Anne consistently thought of and did for loved ones and clients before herself.

Her retirement was less a time of introspection than of pouring herself out for others. Nonetheless, as her husband recently observed, "She never had much doubt about who she was."

A service will be held 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 23, 2010, at Robert E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church in Lexington followed immediately by a celebration of Anne's life at Washington and Lee's Hillel House, next door to the church. Memorial contributions can be made to Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity or Rockbridge Area Hospice. Arrangements are being handled by Harrison Funeral Home and Crematory.