Mary Riggall, 87, advertising firm, antiques entrepreneur

Mary Riggall was good with the written word. Her husband, J. Howard Allison, was a commercial artist.

In the 1950s, they merged their creative talents to form an advertising firm — J. Howard Allison and Company, which was in a grand house off Peachtree Road.

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Mary Riggall, 87, of Atlanta, co-founded and worked for Atlanta advertising companies and later ran an antiques business.

“Even though it had his name on it, she was every bit as responsible for its success,” said a daughter, Kathleen Wilson of Roswell. “She was very good with words and writing copy. Their company grew to become one of the biggest in Atlanta.”

Mary Elizabeth Callaway Riggall, 87, of Atlanta, died Friday of lung cancer at Canterbury Court. A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs. H.M. Patterson and Son Oglethorpe Hill Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Riggall showed a talent for writing at an early age. In her early 20s, she wrote about fashion and food for The Atlanta Journal. She told relatives about helping to report a story about a 1941 airplane crash near Atlanta that almost killed passenger Eddie Rickenbacker, the Eastern Airlines founder and World War I flying ace.

“That’s just one of many remarkable stories she told from that era,” said a stepson, Chris Riggall of Atlanta.

Mrs. Riggall and her husband eventually sold the advertising company they founded to a competitor. She then became an account executive for Burke Dowling Adams Inc., now known as BBDO Atlanta. Her next stop was as creative director at Bonner McLane Advertising in Austin, Texas. She eventually returned to Atlanta to work at the William Mills Agency.

A second career capitalized on a love for fine antiques. For years, she ran an antique shop in Vinings and recently had been maintaining a booth at the Historic Roswell Antique Market.

“She was a working antiques dealer till six months ago,” her daughter said. “She made a living at it.”

Additional survivors are two daughters, Merrilee Cunningham of Houston, Texas, and Sharon Barnhart of Atlanta; two stepsons, Dr. Steven Riggall of New Wilmington, Pa., and Michael Riggall of Atlanta; 10 grandsons and two granddaughters.