Activist Was Three-Term ANC Member For Ward 4

Mary Lou Fant, 94, a community leader and church worker in the District, died of sepsis Jan. 6 at the Sanctuary at Holy Cross, a rehabilitation and nursing home in Burtonsville.

Mrs. Fant was a block captain for the Northwest Boundary Civic Association, assistant secretary of the Evergreen Block Club and a delegate to the D.C. Federation of Civic Associations.

She was elected in 1981 to serve as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 4's Petworth community, and during three terms on the ANC she frequently testified on issues before the city's Alcohol Beverage Control Board, the Zoning Commission and the D.C. Council. She also helped organize the annual Ward 4 Thanksgiving dinner for senior citizens.

In the early 1980s, she fought to keep the Petworth Library open and later advocated for improved public bus service in the neighborhood. "We are proud of our neighborhood," she told The Washington Post. "We see that there is room for improvement. We need to keep working together at it."

Mrs. Fant worked with the Voter Education Project, a citywide effort in which she often canvassed her community looking for unregistered voters to sign up.

In addition to her civic duties, for which she received several community awards, Mrs. Fant was also well-known for her church work.

She was a founding member of the East Capitol Street Church of Christ in the District, where she served as the church's first secretary. In later years, she attended the 13th Street Church of Christ, which was closer to her home, and on many occasions she could be found at the University Park Church of Christ.

At one time, she was a soprano in the Christian Family Chorus, a group made up of singers from Washington area Church of Christ congregations.

Mary Lou Magdalene Kemp was born in Rutledge, Ga., and raised in Atlanta. She graduated with a degree in practical nursing from Miner Teachers College in Washington. During World War II, she worked for the War Department as an analyst and reviewer.

Her marriage to Henry Scandrett ended in divorce. Her second husband, Cortez M. Fant, died in 1990.

Survivors include a daughter from her first marriage, Rosa Lee Kelly of Upper Marlboro; a daughter from her second marriage, Cortesa Marshall of Bowie; two brothers; three sisters; a grandson; and two great-grandchildren.

-- Hamil R. Harris