National Women’s History Month Spotlight: Mary Ann Parrish

Mary Ann Parrish was nominated by NC REALTOR® Lou Baldwin of The Baldwin Companies in Winston-Salem, and Chrissy Shifflett Kincheloe, Director of Marketing for the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Carolinas Realty Family of Companies.

Bio: Mary Ann Parrish was born in West End Winston-Salem, and graduated from Salem Academy and Salem College. While working as a sales agent for Blue Cross Insurance, she met a young lawyer named Fred Parrish. They were married in 1948, and had 2 daughters before he died of a malignant brain tumor at the age of 47. Upon Fred’s death and knowing she had two daughters to support, Mary Ann decided to begin a career in Real Estate. She was indebted to her friend Henry Nading, who in the mid-1960s encouraged her to join his firm. All that she learned from Henry and fellow REALTOR® Vernon Ferrell allowed her to form her own company, Helms-Parrish Properties, with Robert Helms, Ida Rose Dillon, Seymore Rosenberg, and daughter Ann Parrish. Through hard work, love of people, and perseverance as a “woman working in a man’s world,” Mary Ann watched her small company grow and later be purchased by Merrill Lynch, then Prudential, and finally Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. She was elected REALTOR® of the Year in 1987 and received the Tom Lambe Hall of Fame Award in 1997. She received the AR Tuttle for service to the Winston-Salem Regional Association of REALTORS® in 2016. She continued to go to her office daily until well into her 90s.

Read more about Mary Ann’s real estate career in this Winston-Salem Journal article.