Remembering Ann McNabb, beloved family member, Rockwall entrepreneur, and community servant

Rockwall, TX (May 8, 2025) – Ann McNabb’s remarkable 89-year journey came to a peaceful end on April 14, 2025.

Born on March 1, 1936, Ann lived a life defined by service, hard work, and hospitality.

Ann is survived by her children, Jack “Bryan” McNabb Jr., Bruce McNabb, Meg (McNabb) McKniff, and Amy (McNabb) Van Vleck; sons-in-law, Kevin McKniff and Al Van Vleck, and daughter-in-love Patty McNabb; seven grandchildren, Christopher McNabb, Emily (McNabb) Butler, Erin (McKniff) Bandy, Morgan McKniff, Victoria Van Vleck, Stephen Van Vleck and Ray Van Vleck, plus five great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents, Thomas and Evelyn Atkinson, her husband of 55 years, Jack Bryan McNabb, and their infant son.

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ann attended Chattanooga High School where she was involved in several school clubs. While in college, in 1955, she married the love of her life, her high school sweetheart, Jack McNabb.

She loved being a wife, mother, an activist, and a woman in the workforce. After a brief relocation to California in the 1970’s, Jack and Ann moved to Texas in 1980, where she became a business owner, a philanthropist, a health coach, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother.

With an entrepreneurial spirit, Ann opened Back to Basics Health Food Store in Rockwall to educate people about nutrition. Within the community, she was a founding member of the Lone Star Chapter of National Charity League: a mother-daughter service organization that serving the residents of Rockwall since 1983. She loved Rockwall, its people and its sunsets.

Ann will be deeply missed by those who knew her. Services are pending in Rockwall and her hometown of Chattanooga, TN. In Tennessee, she will be lovingly laid to rest with other members of her family.

Submitted by Amy Van Vleck, edited for publication in Blue Ribbon News. Courtesy photo.