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Lila Ward Chichester Wenner died peacefully on March 22, 2014 at the Buckingham’s Choice Retirement Community in Adamstown, MD after a short, but feisty battle with cancer. She was 82.

Born in Frederick on October 5, 1931, she was the only daughter of the late Peter Wood and Lila Koonce Chichester.

Having majored in fine arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Lila gave up a promising career in retail design at Samuel Kirk & Son in Baltimore when she married Bill Wenner in 1955 and moved to Brunswick, MD in 1959 to raise their family. In addition to her role as a loving mother and homemaker, she was active in the community and Grace Episcopal Church where she was head of the Altar Guild for over 40 years. Lila and Bill were energetically involved with the Diocese of Maryland for decades.

Lila achieved some notable firsts for women in Brunswick. The first woman to serve on the vestry at Grace Church, she was also the first female director on the board of the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank. She served on the board of Frederick Memorial Hospital for 18 years and was chairwoman of the Heartly House. She was a moving force behind her husband’s career in law and his successful campaign for Frederick County Circuit Court judge in 1982.

She was an avid gardener, who lovingly tended her flower and vegetable gardens behind the family home on Petersville Road in Brunswick. She was also accomplished at needlework and sewing. She and her husband Bill walked several miles each day, loved their home in Ocean City and traveled the world.

Lila is survived by her husband Judge William W. Wenner of 58 years, two children, Peter Wenner and his wife Maria of San Francisco, CA; Eleanor Kerr and her husband Stuart, of University Park, MD; and a granddaughter, Marian Kerr of Washington, DC.

A funeral service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Brunswick, MD on April 5, 2014 at 11am, the Reverend Anjel Scarborough presiding. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made in her name to Grace Church, 114 East A Street, Brunswick, MD 21716.