Mrs. Laura Ann Faussone

Laura Ann Faussone passed away on September 6, 2023 at the age of 56. Born in Florence, South Carolina, she grew up in Florida and Georgia. In her youth, she was a Girl Scout and served as a volunteer at a local hospital in her home of Valdosta, Georgia. She also worked a number of jobs, including working a paper route. In 1985, she graduated from Valdosta High School as the Salutatorian of her class. She then attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, from which she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science in 1990. She moved to Maryland for employment, where she went on to earned her Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University in 1995. During this same period, she met her future husband, Grant Heller, who worked at a desk in an adjacent cubical to hers at the NSA. They married in 1997, after which she dedicated the remaining two and a half decades of her life to raising their three children: Allison, born at the end of 1998, Sophia, born in 2001, and Edison, in 2003. The family resided in Owings Mills, Maryland until 2004, when they moved to southern Carroll County. Laura was a loving mother, who doted upon her children and was actively involved in their various extracurricular pursuits, which included the color guard of the Century High School Marching Band and the Boy Scouts. She also acted as the “logistics department” and “ground control” for a variety of her husband’s family and pastime activities, demonstrating significant forbearance in that role. For a number of years, she served as the webmaster for the Carroll District of the Baltimore Council of the Boy Scouts of America. She also participated for a few years in a number of programs at the Freedom Fitness Center. She holds the FCC license for the amateur radio call sign KB3LJM and was once a member of a Baltimore amateur radio club, though only to humor her husband. She was also a member of St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. Through attendance at St. Stephen’s and her other community activities, Laura made a number of friends around the Eldersburg area. Laura was a gifted quilter and seamstress, as well as an avid cook and baker. She was generous to others in her practice of these talents, and was always modest when complemented about the results. She enjoyed traveling, watching movies, assembling Lego sets, and participating in a variety of online social groups. A voracious reader, she was known for both her intelligence and her sense of humor. She was socially reserved, and while a person of many opinions, rarely inflicted them on others. Though focused on her family, she placed great value on being her own person. She loved animals, particularly cats, and at times seemed to prefer their company to that of humans. While she was burdened by a number of health concerns during the past few years, Laura’s sudden passing was a shock to her family and friends. She is survived by a family heartbroken at her loss, who in addition to her husband, daughters, and son, include: her parents Wayne and Nancy Faussone of Jasper, Georgia, her sister Diane Bearden (Jeremey), of Hernando, Mississippi, and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held for Laura starting at 11 AM on Saturday, the 23rd of September at Saint Stephen’s Anglican Church, located at 2275 Liberty Road, in Eldersburg, Maryland. In lieu of flowers, Laura’s family requests that donations be made in her name to the American Diabetes Association.

Mrs. Laura Ann Faussone

August 14, 1967 - September 7, 2023