Ann Hepburn, community organizer

NOT MANY women can say that the best man at their wedding was Abraham Lincoln. At least, not since the 19th century.

But Ann Biddle Moran Hepburn can claim that honor - sort of.

When she married Charles McGuffey Hepburn, in 1994, the ceremony was at the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, and there was Abe in full costume ready to do his duty as best man.

Abe was played by Chris Johnson, a noted Lincoln impersonator. The ceremony was performed by the late U.S. District Court Judge Raymond J. Broderick, former lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.

At the time, Ann was founder and head of Ann B. Moran Associates, a nationwide legal search and placement firm for law firms and the legal departments of major corporations.

Ann Hepburn, an energetic businesswoman and civic leader who also played tournament golf and tennis, died June 3 of a nerve disease. She was 73 and had been a longtime resident of Chestnut Hill and Wyndmoor, Montgomery County.

"Ann was naturally gregarious and a born leader who enjoyed working with people, many of whom became her lifelong friends," her husband said.

She was born Priscilla Ann Biddle in Moorestown, N.J., to Charles Miller Biddle III and Patricia White Biddle. She was the great-great-granddaughter of Robert Biddle, who was one of nine Philadelphia Quaker merchant founders of Riverton, N.J., in 1851.

She attended Westfield Friends School, Moorestown Friends School and the George School in Newtown, Bucks County, where she was co-captain of the lacrosse team and played field hockey.

She received a bachelor's degree in history from Pembroke College of Brown University in 1957, and went to work for Smith, Kline & French Laboratories, now part of GlaxoSmithKline, in its personnel department. Her three years there included a year in the headquarters in London.

Ann married her first husband, John Douglas Moran, in 1961. They lived in Center City until 1969, when they moved to Chestnut Hill, where they raised their two sons, John Douglas Moran Jr. and James Biddle Moran.

"My mother loved her family and many friends in Chestnut Hill and around the country and the world," James said. "She was a very energetic and inclusive person who brought people together no matter whether it was for tennis, bridge, dinner or a celebration."

From 1974 through 1980, Ann was associate dean and director of placement for Rutgers University School of Law, in Camden. After she left Rutgers, she founded Ann B. Moran Associates.

She and Moran divorced in 1983. She retired from legal search in the mid-'90s and worked part time as a real-estate agent until she became ill last spring.

Ann was a consultant on fundraising and volunteer issues to a number of nonprofit organizations, including Horizon House, the American Cancer Society, Catholic Social Services and the Cliveden National Trust house.

She was an active volunteer and a member of the auxiliary of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1973. She set up the hospital's first volunteer program and was chairwoman of the annual Daisy Day fundraising drive.

Ann was a member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, a former member of the Forum of Executive Women, the Union League, Junior League of Philadelphia, Buck Hill Falls Golf Club and the Savoy Company.

Besides her husband and sons, she is survived by three brothers, Charles Miller Biddle IV, David White Biddle and Richard Lippincott Biddle; her stepmother, Phyllis Jenkins Morrison Biddle, and five stepchildren.

Services: Quaker memorial service 2 p.m. June 22 in the ballroom of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, 415 W. Willow Grove Ave. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Stapeley in Germantown, c/o Benevolent Fund, 6300 Greene St., Philadelphia 19144, or the George School, Box 4438, Newtown, PA 18940. *