A public funeral for prominent Atlanta philanthropic leader Anne Sterchi will be held Aug. 26 at the All Saints’ Episcopal Church on West Peachtree Street in Atlanta.
The service starts at 11 a.m. A second funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Sept. 13 at the First Presbyterian Church in Orlando.
Sterchi, 69, died Aug. 17 at Piedmont Hospital after complications associated with a viral infection. She is survived by her two brothers, Kent and Allen Sterchi.
Sterchi was the longtime executive director of the J.B. Fuqua Foundation, a private funder of education, health, and human and social services projects across Atlanta. She was hired by businessman and philanthropist J.B. Fuqua in January 2000, after moving to Atlanta from New York City, where she had been one of the few female traders on Wall Street in the 1980s.
Sterchi continued to direct grants for the foundation when it passed into the hands of Fuqua’s son, J. Rex Fuqua. Recipients include the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s orchid center and conservatory, and the mental health treatment nonprofit Skyland Trail, to which contributions can be made in lieu of flowers for Sterchi.
Fuqua told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Sterchi was “a truly wonderful person” who “helped guide our family philanthropy with her wisdom, compassion and warmth.” He said she was a greatly-respected leader in Atlanta’s philanthropic community who provided advice and support to the many nonprofit organizations she worked with.
“She leaves a lasting legacy of good works,” Fuqua said. “Admired and loved by her colleagues and friends, she will be deeply missed.”
Sterchi, who grew up in Orlando, had a wide network of friends from childhood and her time studying at the University of Virginia and Columbia University, working in New York City financial institutions and helping Atlanta charities. Many described her as a whip-smart lover of poetry, music, dance and travel whose laugh was infectious.
Credit: Supplied
Credit: Supplied
“She was always happy to use that laugh, not wit, whenever possible,” said longtime friend Mary Pat Matheson, the president and CEO of the Atlanta Botanical Garden. “She enjoyed life truly to the fullest. Atlanta won’t be the same without Anne Sterchi.”
Sterchi was the middle child of Elizabeth Allen “Happy” Sterchi and John Whitaker Sterchi. She was a wonderful sister who saw the good in others and called it out, Kent Sterchi said.
“Anne believed in me before I believed in myself,” he told the AJC. “She was a cheerleader. She helped me find my way through believing in me.”
Sterchi graduated from the University of Virginia in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and psychology, then spent a year working for SunTrust in Orlando. She received her MBA from Columbia in 1980 and spent more than a decade working at financial institutions Bankers Trust, Salomon Brothers and Lehman Brothers.
After moving to Atlanta, Sterchi became involved in the nonprofit World T.E.A.M. Sports, which fueled her passion for travel and philanthropy. She worked for Rialto theater before accepting a job at Fuqua Foundation.
Credit: Supplied
Credit: Supplied
Friend Virginia Hepner, who met Sterchi in the late 1980s, said they bonded over their shared enjoyment of tennis, work in the financial sector and passion for the community. Sterchi had “a wicked forehand” and was admirably disciplined about representing the Fuqua family’s interests, Hepner said.
“It’s just a huge loss,” she said of Sterchi’s death. “We’re all just devastated. She was the most infectious person. A delight to know. And so welcoming.”
Not one to cook, Sterchi would bring “mini Dove bars” to parties and watch them disappear within minutes, Hepner said. Sterchi also invented a cocktail known among her friends as “The Sterchi Special,” comprising Tito’s vodka, orange juice, splashes of cranberry juice and soda, and a slice of lime, Matheson said.
Friends said Sterchi had talked in recent years about the prospect of retiring, but felt she had more to give and wasn’t in a hurry to slow down. She volunteered in a variety of ways and traveled to all seven continents, visiting many countries in Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East.
Credit: Supplied
Credit: Supplied
“I think Anne could look back on her life and know that she had a huge impact on Atlanta, particularly with her work, but also just her generous spirit,” Matheson said.
Possessions were not important to Sterchi, who valued relationships with friends and family, her brother said. He said Sterchi inspired and embraced people of all kinds and reminded them that life is to be savored.
“She lived life with a capital L,” Kent Sterchi said. “Everybody thought they were Anne’s best friend.”
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