Obituary of Anita Pope Maddox

Anita Pope Maddox

April 9, 1935 – May 7, 2019

AIKEN-- Anita Pope Maddox passed into eternal rest Tuesday, May 7 at the age of 84. She was a creative homemaker who liked to say she raised four children of her own and helped raise five others.

She was a dynamic community force who taught Natural Childbirth for Dr. Kenneth Owens and served as secretary for the Crosby School of Dance. She was a Science teacher, Third Grade teacher and Headmistress for Mead Hall School. She had an active interest in science and initiated an ecology based science program in the school in conjunction with Dr. Whit Gibbons and The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

She was a lifelong educator serving 27 years at Mead Hall like her mother before her. She was active in the St Thaddeus and St. Paul’s Episcopal Churches. She was a dear friend of Carl Crosby’s and worked with Carl, Dot and Lee Poe and others to establish the Aiken Civic Ballet Company. She was educated at the University of Tennessee and University of South Carolina - Aiken. She and her husband Albert worked actively for the establishment of Civil Rights and to integrate the local public schools. They were both among the founders of the local Mended Hearts Chapter #294 based at Aiken Regional Hospital. She was an avid reader, camper, gardener, and entertainer. She loved to dance and sing and learned much from her father Leo Pope who, with Parker Deans, established the Aiken Community Playhouse.

She loved a good martini, a story well told, and dinners with family and friends. She had a competitive spirit, a generous heart, and a talent for holding the attention of her students and guests. She taught those around her to love one another, to love life, and to be kind. Like her husband Albert, she has donated her body for study at MUSC. She will continue her teaching career at MUSC for the next year before returning to Aiken.

A graveside service will be held at St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, 11:00 AM, Saturday, June 10, 2023, with Father Joseph S. Whitehurst officiating.

Memorials may be made to The Aiken Civic Ballet Company, The Aiken Chapter of Mended Hearts #294, and to Mead Hall School.

The Historic George Funeral Home, 211 Park Ave., SW, Aiken, SC 29801 (803.649.6234), has charge of arrangements.

Expression of sympathy for the Maddox family may be left by visiting www.georgefuneralhomes.com