Ann Carey Costilow

"Well-behaved women rarely make history" is the slogan on one of Ann Costilow's favorite t-shirts. Other favorites were "A woman's place is in the dome" and "Uppity Women Unite." Ann's family and extensive network of friends and colleagues are devastated to lose her, but are comforted in the fact that the positive impacts she had on Texas women, voting rights, labor rights, and individuals, especially her husband, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews, will live on and she will be remembered for her tremendous love and the many ways she found to share and practice it in this world.

Grace Ann Carey Costilow was born the second of six children on November 2, 1941 in Breckenridge, Texas, a sixth generation Texan. After suffering for several months, on May 29, 2015, she was freed to join her much loved son, Jason Costilow, and parents, Ada Ellen Knox Carey and Robert Vanno Carey as well as her sister-in-law Dana McNeil Costilow Crisp, in the next place. Missing her are her husband and best friend Jan Durant Costilow, daughters Sarah Durant Costilow and Jennie Ellen Costilow, son-in-law Satch Grimley, and adored grandchildren Finn Seabird Grimley and Sery Wren Grimley. Her siblings will also deeply miss her: Jean Hensley and husband Homer, Betsy Pedigo and husband Bill, Dick Carey and wife Patti, Rex Carey and wife Cathy, and Kent Carey and wife Nancy. Numerous nieces and nephews, grandnieces and nephews, cousins, more than a couple of dachshunds and her uncommonly friendly kitty will feel her loss.

It's important to point out that throughout Ann's life, she cultivated and maintained an extraordinary number of friends. Too many to name here, her college roommates, childhood neighborhood friends, friends from overlapping social circles, work colleagues, and friends from her political and social activities are as dear to her as family. All of these friends will acutely miss her.

In a time when women had two career choices (teacher or nurse), Ann and her sisters chose teaching. After graduating from North Texas Teacher's College (now University of North Texas), Ann taught English and Journalism for 17 years to secondary school students in Wichita Falls, Clarksville, Keller, Leander, Jourdanton, and Alice, Texas.

During those years, and amidst many good (and often wild) times with countless friends, Ann met Jan in November of 1965. First bonding over a book both later decided wasn't all that great, the two married on June 14, 1969. They had Jason in 1972, Jennie in 1974, and bicentennial baby Sarah in 1976.

Ann was an example of a woman who chose a career AND family and did both commendably. She was a remarkable mother, role model, boss, and mentor. In the 1970s she helped found the Texas Women's Political Caucus, and served from 1980-1987 as its executive director. In that position and then as chief clerk of the Texas House Committees on Elections and Public Education, she was in the thick of things alongside beloved friend and mentor the late Honorable Ernestine V. Glossbrenner and many other notable women to promote and improve voting rights, quality public education, and women's rights and reproductive health in the State of Texas. Ann was especially proud to receive the "Woman of the Year" award from the Texas Women's Political Caucus.

In 1992, she left the legislature and went to work for three successive Texas attorneys general, creating and building programs to help fathers take an active role in their children's lives even without being married to the mother. During these years Ann became very involved with the Texas State Employees Union, devoting time and money to help ensure a quality state workforce and safeguard the benefits promised by the state. After retirement from the OAG in 2002, she continued to work for several years as a contractor for the OAG and part-time for the Texas Center for Public Policy Priorities. All along the way she was actively working to promote political candidates who were women and democrats.

Throughout her life, on top of work, she could always be counted on to lick envelopes, collate newsletters, and get donations for silent auctions. At the same time, she was supporting friends in need, baking cookies, organizing birthday parties, tutoring kids, collecting pigs (mostly figurines but a couple of real ones!) and sewing costumes for school events. She had legendary "eye darts" which, when directed toward you, kept you quaking in your shoes. She and Jan hosted a renowned annual Fourth of July party, played hundreds of hours of Scrabble (later Words with Friends), read hundreds, maybe thousands of books, and listened to a variety of old and contemporary music. She was a proud and devoted grandmother. She travelled around the country, in Mexico, and even to Europe, and thoroughly, wholly lived and enjoyed every bit of her wondrous life. Her grandson Finn did a great job summing it all up on a poster he made for his Yaya which hangs in her living room: Yaya, you are the very best!!

If people would like to donate to organizations in Ann’s name, good choices are the Texas Democratic Party, Planned Parenthood, or the Ada Carey Center, part of Mission Granbury.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six o’clock until eight o’clock in the evening, on Friday, the 5th of June 2015, at Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas. The family would appreciate visitors to wear their favorite slogan t-shirt or a muumuu.

Memorial services will be conducted at one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 6th of June 2015, in the Colonial Chapel of Cook-Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas.

To share condolence with the family please visit www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com.