Ann McSpadden Hand

Ann McSpadden Hand passed away peacefully in Mt Pleasant, SC on May 6, 2024, after complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. Her adoring husband of more than 40 years, E.O. “Bert” Hand predeceased her earlier this year. She is survived by her beloved stepdaughters, Sarah Hand (Raul Vidal), Katherine Hand Charlson (Jonathan), and three adored grandchildren, Lilly, Whitney and Ozzie.

Born to Clarence “Willy” and Ruth McSpadden in Electra, Texas, Ann was a loving daughter and sister to Sam. Ann was extremely proud of her family’s heritage involving the historic Grand Movie Theatre in Electra, now a designated Texas Historical Landmark, which her Grandmother Martha McSpadden owned and operated for many years. Under Mrs. McSpadden’s leadership, the Grand and its employees contributed over one million dollars to The Fifth War Loan Campaign during WWII. Ann’s childhood was steeped in lore about their relations, Clem Vann Rogers and Will Rogers, and her family’s connections to the Cherokee Nation and Rogers County, Oklahoma.

Ann earned her undergraduate degree in English from North Texas University where she was a Delta Gamma, and her masters in Education from Southern Methodist University. She was a natural athlete who was a tennis state finalist, an avid runner, and proved her skills on the golf
course.

She taught English at Dallas’s Woodrow Wilson High School, and was a stickler for grammar and lover of verse her entire life. Ann taught both the honors and remedial cohorts with great joy. She loved being a teacher and later in life, she was a volunteer reading tutor to First Graders at Ridgeland Elementary School in South Carolina where she created a supportive early reading program building a library of “just right” books and being the kind and compassionate teacher all children need. She was Miss Annie to them, and they adored her.

Ann was an accomplished and keen poetry enthusiast who could off the cuff reference her favorite figurative language appropriate for any situation. It was a trait Bert marveled at and her family and friends knew she had a unique way of commanding the room through poetry. Ann
loved reading and was the first to join the local book club wherever she lived, always finding her group of fellow readers. We will sorely miss her deep knowledge and appreciation for literature and hope to instill this pursuit in her grandchildren as her legacy.

In 1984 Ann began a new chapter of her life in Chicago when she wed Bert. She was his true partner as he stepped into the role of CEO of the Hartmarx Corporation. Together they traveled the world, raised wonderful dogs (always in pairs) and were devoted supporters of the Seeing
Eye Dog Foundation. On their many trips, Ann was always able to find a quiet spot with a tree swing in a remote garden to sit back and observe the beauty of the place. She was an active patron of Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and a longtime member of the Fortnightly Club of Chicago.

A Texan in her soul, Ann always embodied fun, from her childhood of making mud pies, to her days at YMCA Camp Chief Ouray, her teenage summers with her oldest friend, Jane, in Bay View, MI to teaching her Chicagoan stepdaughters how to make the perfect seven layer dip for
all important football games. Ann loved exploring Italian culture with Bert and their family. For the past twenty five years, Ann was a seasonal resident of Spring Island, South Carolina, a place she joyously embraced finding community and delighting in its unspoiled nature. She loved her collections, from salt and pepper shakers to figurines and rose glass that reminded her of her Grandmother and always artfully curated these pieces for her beautiful homes. Ann will be profoundly missed by her loving family and cherished friends. In lieu of flowers, the family
has requested donations to the Alzheimer's Foundation…..

Expressions of sympathy can be viewed at mcalister-smith.com

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, 1520 Rifle Range Road, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464, (843) 884-3833.