Anna Louise Reynolds
February 19, 1933 – July 22, 2024
Pittsboro, North Carolina – Anna Louise Reynolds passed away peacefully on July 22, 2024, at her home in Fearrington Village. Anna Louise, the eldest child of Wellington Wormouth Reynolds and Janice (Lillycrop) Thomas, was born on February 19, 1933, in Indianapolis, IN. She is predeceased by her parents and her brother, Stephen Frederick Reynolds.
Anna Louise earned a B.A. in English from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1955, before working as a journalist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and as an editor for several medical journals. She married Joseph Stephen Pagano in 1957, and the family moved to Chapel Hill in 1965, where she continued to work as an editor and in multiple volunteer jobs advocating for women’s rights. While raising two boys, Anna Louise pursued her vision of entering the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. She entered Duke Divinity School, in 1976, earning a Master of Divinity with honors in 1979, and a Master of Theology, in 1981. She was ordained as deacon in 1983, then as priest in 1984, becoming only the second woman ordained minister in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. She served as Assistant Rector of the Chapel of the Cross from 1983-1984, then as Associate Rector from 1985-1992. Often weaving literature with liturgy, her many congregants left the church uplifted, guided towards a new understanding of living the word of God, her voice echoing in their hearts.
Anna Louise served as President of the North Carolina Episcopal Clergy Association, Chapel Hill (1989-1991), as Vice-President of the Interfaith Council for Social Service, Chapel Hill (1988), and on the Boards of Directors for: The Coalition for Battered Women, Durham, North Carolina (1983-1986); Orange County Women’s Center, Chapel Hill (1983-1985); The Institutional Review Board, The University North Carolina Medical School (1988-1990).
In the late 90s, Anna Louise transitioned from the Episcopal to the Catholic Church, where, as a congregant at St. Thomas More in Chapel Hill, she led a Bible Studies Class for many years, where she continued to weave her scholarship and her love of God together.
Full of energy, tenacity, and enthusiasm even in her final years of life, Anna Louise continued to enjoy her lifelong passions of writing, painting, and especially ballroom dancing, astounding many with her beauty, grace, athleticism, and joy of life.
Anna Louise is survived by her brother, The Reverend Michael Jon Thomas (wife Katrina) of Tonawanda, NY, two children, Stephen Reynolds Pagano (wife Mary Ann) of Graham, NC, and Christopher Joseph Pagano (wife Florence) of Wellesley, MA, and her former husband Joseph Stephen Pagano of Chapel Hill, NC. She leaves behind five grandchildren: Benjamin, Noah (wife Brianne), Liliana, Leah (husband David), and Jacob (wife Nina).
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to FINCA International, https://finca.org, or the Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org
