Ann (Brunson) McAllister

Ann Brunson McAllister, 78, of Fayetteville, NC, passed away on October 6, 2024, at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with her husband by her side.  She died peacefully after a years-long struggle with chronic health issues. 

The oldest of four children born to the late Robert and Lillian Brunson of Fayetteville, she was a proud graduate of Massey Hill High School and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke – where she earned her degree in English in her early 50’s.  For the majority of her career she worked as a budget analyst at Fort Liberty, both with the Reserved Officers Training Corps and at Womack Army Medical Center.  However, her greatest vocational joy came after she took an early retirement and began pursuing her passion for teaching students with learning challenges.  Ann pursued a specialized training in the Orton-Gillingham approach for literacy education for K-5 students.  She loved being a tutor and surrogate-grandmother to many children and their families, and she found great joy in watching students increase in their learning and self-confidence.  While she gave birth to only one child, and has only one grandchild, there are dozens of now-young-adults who viewed her as a beloved parent and grandparent of sorts.  What a testimony to a big heart and generous life – and to her steadfast belief that joy and serving others are inherently intertwined.

Ann’s love of reading and words cannot be overstated.  She was a voracious reader with a mind as keen as her heart was big.  She was an amazing mother who instilled a strong work ethic and love of learning in her son.  Though her son experienced a stroke at birth and faced several challenges in childhood, Ann worked tirelessly to connect him with physical and occupational therapists in Chapel Hill and refused to allow him to view his disability as a hindrance.  Rather, she taught him that most anything was possible with tenacity and hard work.   

Ann is preceded in death by her parents, her baby brother, and her beloved soul sister and dear friend, Katie Bell. 

Ann is survived by her loving husband of 58 years, John Wesley McAllister; their grateful son, the Rev. John Michael McAllister of Southern Pines; daughter-in-law, Laurea Glusman McAllister and beloved granddaughter, Caroline McAllister who, to her grandmother’s great joy, has also become an avid reader in childhood.  Ann is also survived by her sister and older brother, and several nieces and nephews, among them Savannah Brunson, whom she adored.  What a gift she was to us all.  We are so profoundly grateful for her love and influence in our lives.

In addition to her family, friends, students, and books, Ann loved traveling, her rescue pets, the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, and Diet Coke.  The family is especially grateful to all their amazing Raeburn Court neighbors who became like family over the past 37 years, and who were wonderful caregivers and friends over the past several years.

A visitation for friends and family will be held at Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home in Fayetteville on Thursday, October 10, 2024, from 5:00PM to 7:00PM.  Her funeral will be Friday, October 11, 2024, at 1:30pm in the Jernigan-Warren Chapel, with burial to follow at Lafayette Memorial Park. 

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Fayetteville Animal Protection Society or Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh.  

Online condolences may be sent to http://www.jerniganwarren.com

Services provided by Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home, 545 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28301

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ann (Brunson) McAllister, please visit our floral store.