Biography: Mary Jim Chickering peacefully passed away Tuesday, September 1, 2020, at home in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was born October 22, 1916, in Ashland, Alabama to her parents James and Pauline Lane and moved with her family to Little Rock, Arkansas, when she was 3. Early in life she aspired to be a ballerina and made her stage debut at the age of 4. She later decided to become a dietician and attended the University of Arkansas, majoring in chemistry and foods, and spent a post-graduate year studying institutional management and quantity cooking.
 
Visiting friends in San Antonio, Texas, she met a young Army Air Corps officer, Lieutenant Edwin S. Chickering, and in March of 1940 the couple married. They began the migratory life of service families, living on or near air bases from Hawai’i to the eastern seaboard. During World War II when her husband was in Europe, Mrs. Chickering’s training as a dietician proved invaluable when she instructed San Antonio, Texas, Red Cross volunteers in canteen duties, often feeding 1,000 people at a time.
 
At Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, between 1947 and 1948, Mary Jim served as president of the Officers’ Wives Club. She also helped create “Stove Pilot”, an illustrated collection of recipes gleaned from Air Force wives and their husbands. Funds from the sale of over 50,000 copies have aided underprivileged children and students the world over.
 
While a student at the University of Arkansas, Mary Jim joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and in later years became national vice-president in charge of the sorority’s philanthropic affairs. She also studied with Dr. Howard Ruck of Bellevue Hospital in New York and helped organize sorority grants for rehabilitation scholarships.
 
While living in Alexandria, Virginia, and her husband, now a Brigadier General, was working in the Pentagon, Mrs. Chickering enrolled in the American University and earned a degree in Interior Design. She embarked on a successful career working for Lord and Taylor at their Falls Church store in the Interior Design Studio, designing furnishings and appointments for many fashionable private homes and for the Mormon Temple in Washington, D.C. She was a member of the American Society of Interior Design (ASID).
 
When General Chickering retired from the Air Force, the couple moved back to Little Rock and shared a lovely condominium at Country Place. They split their time between Country Place and Grandfather Golf and Country Club in the Blue Ridge mountains near Linville, North Carolina. Mary Jim and General Chickering were instrumental in the founding of the Clan Hamilton Society in the U.S. Mary Jim entertained many clan members and guests in the Clan Hamilton tent at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, and her ham biscuits became legendary. General Chickering passed away in February 2003.
 
Mary Jim summarized her life as a military wife this way: “It is a great opportunity to see the military and civilians learn about each other and form lasting friendships. One feels a mutual interest in churches and school, too. I wouldn’t give anything in the world for the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met.”
 
Mrs. Chickering is survived by her son, Jim Chickering and daughter-in-law Robin Chickering of St. Louis, Missouri, her grandchildren Allison Chickering of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Edwin Chickering II, also of St. Louis, her caregiver Alma Dennis who kept her healthy and happy for many years, many cousins, and a host of admiring friends.
 
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Easter Seals of Arkansas, 3920 Woodland Heights Road, Little Rock, AR, 72212, All Saints Episcopal Mission, P.O. Box 117, Linville, NC, 28646, The Friends of the Air Force Academy Library, P.O. Box 186, U.S. Air Force Academy, CO, 80840, or to another worthy cause.
 
Visitation will be at Ruebel Funeral Home in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Saturday, September 5, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.,. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia at a later date.