Angela Corrigan Gill, who always preferred to be called Ann, died Nov. 11, 2020.

Ann was born Oct. 2, 1938 in Meridian, Miss., to Lucy Matthews Corrigan and Joseph Michael Corrigan. Ann graduated from Meridian High School and the University of Mississippi, where she majored in chemistry and was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She was introduced to her husband, Kinloch, by her roommate while she was at Ole Miss.

Early in their marriage, the Gills returned to Oxford, where Ann worked as a chemist at the USDA Sedimentation Lab while Kinloch completed his graduate studies and subsequently worked as a professor at Ole Miss. Both of Ann’s children, Eleanor and Kin, were born during this time. In 1974 the family moved to Greenwood, Mississippi and Ann began her career as a full-time mother, though she did moonlight as a self-taught computer programmer writing software for the mainframe computer at the Region VI Mental Health Center, where Kinloch was the executive director.

When her husband, Kinloch, died suddenly at the age of 55, Ann decided to retire and return to Oxford. Ann then became active in the community and managed to find time to travel to Europe, Central America and Africa as well as become certified as an Advanced Level PADI scuba diver. She began taking dive trips to the British Virgin Islands and earned the nickname of “Queen Ann” on one of her many adventures to the islands. She loved bridge and earned her Life Masters from the American Contract Bridge League. People around town often referred to her as the “Bridge Lady” because she found a second career teaching bridge. She wanted the “next generation” to learn how to play the game that had allowed her to keep her brain active and meet people from all over the world while having a good time. And even in retirement, she remained a member of the American Chemical Society. After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Ann spent her final years in Austin, Texas.

Ann never met a stranger and could turn a short story into a Faulknerian novel. That gift was what endeared her to the many friends (both young and old) that she had in Oxford.

She is survived by two children: Dr. Eleanor Gill and her husband, Pete Thomas of Hernando, Miss. and her son, Kinloch Gill, III and his wife Blanche of Austin, Texas; two grandchildren, Kinloch Gill, IV and Claire Gill of Austin, Texas. She leaves a brother, Michael Corrigan of Meridian.

A mass of Christian burial will be held in Oxford at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church on Friday, Nov. 20 at 2 p. m. An offsite reception to celebrate Ann’s life will be held immediately following the mass. She will be buried next to the love of her life in a private service at Bethesda Cemetery in Senatobia, Miss. Pate-Jones Funeral home has charge of the arrangements.

Memorials can be made to the Ann Corrigan Gill Scholarship Fund at the University of Mississippi. This scholarship is being established in Ann’s honor to provide scholarships to women majoring in chemistry at Ole Miss.