Mary Van Sciver Biddle, 99, died of natural causes on February 18, 2026 in Lafayette Hill, PA. She was born on October 6, 1926 in Chestnut Hill, PA and grew up in Mt. Airy, PA. She was the daughter of Russell Van Sciver and Elizabeth Hurley Potts Van Sciver. Her mother’s family was descended from Quakers who sailed to America with William Penn aboard the Welcome and its fleet in 1682. She was a direct descendant of the iron merchant John Potts who founded Pottstown, PA in 1752, and her great-grandfather started the Horace T. Potts Iron and Steel Company. Her paternal grandfather Joseph Bishop Van Sciver founded the J.B. Van Sciver Furniture Company. 

Mary attended the Green Street Friends School and the Stevens School. After becoming a debutante in 1945, she attended Ogontz Junior College, graduating in 1947. Mary spent her childhood summers in Longport, New Jersey where her family had a residence. Mary learned to sail, fish, and skipper boats from a young age, exploring the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. In 1948, she caught a record-sized 335-lb bluefin tuna in two hours and ten minutes in Amagansett, Long Island. In 1949, Mary skippered and won a Starboat race sponsored by the Corinthian Yacht Club at the Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett, Long Island. Mary grew up horseback riding and fox hunting with the Whitemarsh Junior Hunt and was a member of the Huntington Valley Hunt Club as an adult. She won many horsemanship, working hunter, and jumping events with her horse “El Dorado,” and learned to drive ponies with her sister Betty. She also learned to figure skate and ice dance and was a member of the Wissahickon Skating Club.

In 1952, Mary married Roscoe Tate Anthony, Jr. of Palm Beach, FL. Together they had two children, Tate and Theresa. They were divorced in 1958. In 1968, Mary married Oliver Biddle of Philadelphia, a marriage that lasted 50 years until his death in 2018. Together they had one daughter, Vanessa. At their home in Chestnut Hill, they cultivated an award-winning garden which they opened to the public for charity and horticultural tours. During their time in Chestnut Hill, they also raised several Jack Russell terriers. Mary was an accomplished dog trainer, and their last dog “Tess” was trained as an ‘elite’ agility competitor, certified Canine Good Citizen, flyball dog champion, and registered therapy dog. Tess was awarded over 65 prizes in flyball, agility, and go-to-ground trial events. Mary was an astute businesswoman who learned to navigate the stock market in her early teens and became a successful investor. She was a talented artist, an avid gardener, and a prolific knitter. Many friends, relatives, and acquaintances with babies became the lucky recipients of her signature “Biddle Baby Blanket,” and, in her final years, she continued to knit scarves for seniors in assisted living and blankets for infants in the foster care system. Kind and loving, Mary was adored by all who knew her.

In 2006, Mary and Oliver moved to the Hill at Whitemarsh where they both remained until their deaths. Mary Biddle was a member of the Welcome Society and the Philadelphia Cricket Club. She is survived by her three children, Theresa Crowley of Malvern, PA, R. Tate Anthony III of West Chester, PA and Lake Sunapee, NH, and Vanessa Biddle, of Los Angeles, CA, five step-children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She is pre-deceased by her husband Oliver Biddle and her sister Elizabeth Atkinson. In accordance with her wishes, there will be no funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the charity of your choice in Mary’s name.