Mary Ann Hyde and friends at The Hockaday School.

While most people attend one or two high school reunions in their lifetime, Hockaday alumna Mary Ann Hyde is gearing up to attend her 70th.

Hyde, 87, part of Hockaday’s class of 1949, will attend the school’s Alumnae Day luncheon on Friday and will receive The Hockaday School Medal Award for her excellence in community service and for exemplifying the all-girls school’s four cornerstones: character, courtesy, scholarship and athletics. 

“I am so honored and humbled to receive the medal,” Hyde said. “I am delighted beyond words.”

After graduating from Hockaday, Hyde and her husband Edward R. Hyde moved to Venezuela where she chaired her first fundraiser event for the Children’s Service League alongside the country’s first lady.

Mary Ann Hyde

When the couple moved to Philadelphia, Mary Ann Hyde served on the boards of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Deacon Hospital and the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. She was also a trustee for the Phoenix House, while provides services to abused children and mothers, and the Chamounix Mansion, an historic hostel.

“Hockaday instilled a desire (in me) a desire to become involved in charitable endeavors,” Hyde said. “It always played an important role in my life.”

Hyde currently serves on the board of SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and the Presbyterian Communities and Services Foundation Board.

She is grateful to receive The Hockaday Medal Award, but Hyde said what she is most looking forward to is seeing friends she met in the first grade.

“I’ve had a lot of wonderful friendships through the years and to be able to go back and touch base with so many of them is really special,” she said.