Mary Swan Sprague Iselin died peacefully at her home in Middleburg Virginia on March 15th, 2019. She was 86.

Swannie, as she was known to her family and friends, was born in Savannah Georgia. She was the daughter of William Wallace Sprague and Mary Swan Crowther Sprague. She attended the St. Timothy's school in Towson, Maryland and graduated with a BA in Mathematics from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

After graduating from college Swannie moved to the hunt country of Virginia where she lived for the rest of her life. She was an avid outdoorswoman, whose passions included foxhunting, fishing, upland hunting and breeding, as well as showing and racing thoroughbreds. She established a successful show hunter stable in Warrenton with her first husband, the beloved Hall of Fame horseman Gene Cunningham. She owned and rode the iconic Cap and Gown who was inducted to the Show Hunter Hall of fame in 1997.

In 1978 Swannie married C. Oliver Iselin lll and moved to Middleburg, VA. She bred racehorses for the next four decades with great success culminating with her being awarded the Leading Breeder in Virginia in 2017, the same year that her horse Old Dominion was also inducted into The Show Hunter Hall of Fame.

Swannie loved her friends, family, dogs and horses.

Her husband C. Oliver Iselin III, her brother William W. Sprague Jr, and her sister Isabel Sprague Lamar predeceased Swannie. She is survived by her sister-in-law Elizabeth Carr Sprague, her step daughter Julie Iselin Diehl, six nieces and nephews Courtney Sprague Flexon (Phillip), Elizabeth Sprague O'Meara (Gerard), Lauren D Sprague (Mary Ellen), William W. Sprague III, Mary Swan Lamar, and Wayland W. Lamar (Lori), as well as 12 great nieces and nephews. A memorial service for her will be held at the Royston Funeral Home in Middleburg, VA at 3:00 pm on Saturday the 27thof April 2019.

In lieu of flowers please send a donation to the Loudon County Adult Protective Services (Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers).