Mary Kilby Hickox Whitney, 1952-2011, died peacefully Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011, at home, 2823 Confederate Ave., Vicksburg, MS 39180, surrounded by immediate family and following a two-year battle with cancer.

Born Sept. 7, 1952, in Washington, D.C., she grew up in Dallas and was educated at Hockaday School there, Miss Porters in Farmington Conn., Kirkland College in Hamilton, N.Y., Middlebury College, Va., and the University of Texas in Austin, as well as the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. Kilby earned a B.A. in Russian language studies. She met Cliff Whitney on a skiing trip to Steamboat Springs, Colo., and they were married in Washington, D.C., in 1982. Kilby worked as a foreign intelligence analyst in the Washington, D.C., area and later as a staff scientist at Applied Research Associates in Vicksburg, where she and Cliff moved in 1995.

Kilby was a positive force in the lives of those who had the pleasure of knowing her, always there with a warm smile and a story to tell. She was also a talented cook and loved to entertain family and friends. In later years, Kilby translated her love of food and people into the Bryn Rose Inn, where she also conducted a growing business of staging weddings, dinners and associated events.

Kilby is survived by her husband, Cliff Whitney; sons, Nick, Reed and Cole Whitney; her father, Charles R. Hickox of Dallas; her brothers, Charles R. Hickox III of Afton, Va., and Gilbert P. Hickox of Dallas, and their families.

Her mother, Edith Porter, Mrs. Charles R. Hickox, predeceased her in 2008.

A service celebrating her life will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011, at First Baptist Church in Vicksburg, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. and a reception following the ceremony at the Bryn Rose Inn. The interment of her remains will follow this summer in North Hatley, Quebec, at a time to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.