Widow of Biltmore House heir dies weeks after her husband

An owner of Asheville’s storied Biltmore estate, Mary “Mimi” Ryan Cecil, died at her home Friday, 17 days after her late husband. She was 85.

Cecil and William A.V. Cecil, married in New York City in 1957. She was the daughter of textile manufacturer John Ryan Jr. and among the first women graduates of the University of Michigan’s law school. He was the grandson of George Vanderbilt III, who built the Biltmore house and estate in the 1890s.

Three years later, the couple moved to Asheville to raise their family and oversee Biltmore’s management and preservation. Under their oversight, it became a profitable tourist attraction and working estate that was named a National Historic Landmark in 1963.

Mimi Cecil was also widely known as a supporter and leader of nonprofit groups in the Asheville area, dedicating her time to a long list of causes in education, social inequities, the environment and the arts.

She served 14 years as chair of the North Carolina Environmental Defense Fund and was a founding board member of the Nature Conservancy in North Carolina and of Friends of the Smokies, according to her obituary. She also sat on the board of the North Carolina Zoological Society and supported the Asheville Symphony and Guild, Warren Wilson College, the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and Mission Health System, among many other causes.

“She has been a wonderful wife and mother and has offered her considerable gifts, skills, and abilities to our community, our mountains, and our country. I am profoundly in her debt,” her husband had said in a book about Biltmore, “Lady on the Hill.”

Survivors include her son, William A.V. “Bill” Cecil Jr., daughter Diana “Dini” Cecil Pickering, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The funeral will be Nov. 27 at the Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village, which once housed estate workers.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Widow of Biltmore House heir dies weeks after her husband."