Anne Ferris Tenney

Born Anne Elizabeth Howes to Wallace A. and Florence Westney Howes in Florence, MA on February 21, 1922, blessed with sparkling eyes, vivacious charm, and a natural grace and beauty, Anne lived her life with a smile, a laugh, and a warm heart. Above all she loved being with family and friends and expanding that circle. If you flew on a plane with Anne, before you landed you met everyone in her row, knew what they liked for dinner, where they went on vacation, what books they were reading, where they went to school, and who they were meeting when they landed.

But Anne also knew her share of sorrow: in her teens she suddenly and unexpectedly lost her mother; at age 20 her first love (Bill Geer, World War 2 Air Force pilot); at age 52 her first husband Frederick L. Ferris, Jr.; and in her early 60s her second husband David B. Tenney. Yet Anne quietly endured those losses with steadfast courage, focusing her thoughts on her family, friends, and the future, resiliently finding serenity as she accepted that which she could not control.

As siblings Anne had one older brother (Wallace A. Howes of Houston, TX – d. 2004) and one younger brother (Kimball W. Howes of Florence, MA – d. 2016). Growing up with her brothers' teasing and goading she was unafraid of "creepy-crawlies" and their ilk– but still hated snakes. She bicycled, was a badminton ace, loved athletics generally, joined the swim team at Smith, and filled her life with activity. Anne was equally comfortable as Prom Queen (at her high school in Florence) and as perennial camp bugler. She earned her BA in English on an accelerated program at Smith College, graduating in 1944. Anne viewed a good education as one of life's essentials.

Upon graduation Anne promptly joined the Waves (as an Ensign). Anne's orders took her to the Eastern Sea Frontier Headquarters of the Navy on Church St. in New York City, where she was an active participant in the anti-German submarine war effort. It was there that she met Fred Ferris, a naval 1st Lieutenant, recently returned from a twenty-month tour in Rabat, Morocco. Anne's job included presenting Fred's theories of where the U-Boat wolf packs were hunting (based on his analytics depicted on a three story high map of the North Atlantic) to a cavalcade of Naval gold braid and other military elites many years her senior.

On May 25, 1945 Anne and Fred were married in Northampton, MA. They honeymooned in NYC. They had two sons: Rick (Dr. Frederick L. Ferris III: b. 4/24/46 - Princeton '68, Johns Hopkins Medical School ‘72) and Kim (Kimball H. Ferris: b. 9/11/47 - Yale '69, University of Massachusetts MLA ’74 and MRP ’75, Willamette University JD ‘78). Fred taught science for a few years at The Lawrenceville School and Princeton University. During this period Anne taught nursery school at their home on Hale St. in Pennington, NJ (which Ricky and Kimmy attended). As the children grew, before and after joining Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ, Anne was active in her community as a Cub Scout Den Mother, leader in the Pennington Women's Club, supporter of the Pennington midget football team, and much more.

After recovering from tuberculosis, Fred joined Anne at ETS in 1953 and they worked for years together in different departments, until shifts in Fred's career path moved the family successively to Concord, MA in 1967; Fort Lauderdale, FL in 1970; and finally back to Milton, MA., where Fred died suddenly in June 1973.

Anne next worked for a time in the admissions department at Curry College in Milton, MA and later as special assistant to the Headmaster of The Lawrenceville School. While living in Milton, Anne met David Tenney. Their eventual courtship included sailing, golf, and travel. Anne and David were married in Sturbridge Village, MA in 1977. Shortly thereafter David retired and they moved to Castine, ME, where Anne became a beloved member of the Congregational Church, volunteer at the Castine Hospital, and active Castine community participant. After David's sudden death, Anne remained in Castine until 2011, when she moved to The Cypress in Charlotte, NC, which became her final home.

Anne counted the following as some of her more memorable life experiences and joys: watching a space launch at Cape Canaveral, FL (where she met and conversed with the astronauts - Fred was one of the committee that selected Harrison Schmidt as the first scientist-astronaut to fly to the moon); hosting Eleanor Roosevelt for two days in connection with a speech at ETS; watching a total eclipse of the sun in Maine in 1964; sailing (as first-mate) with David (as skipper) on Winona from Boston to Maine (and all about the Maine coast); hosting tailgate parties at Yale/Princeton football games; hosting pool parties and family reunions at their beautiful New Jersey home on KimRick Hill; juggling beaus as a teenager with her cousin Roz (Emmons); being one of the Golden Girls (she played the part of Betty White) with her "cousin" Shirley Lehren (Portland, OR) and long-time Pennington friend Jean Golf (Marathon, FL); enjoying an occasional scotch on the rocks; tumbling out of a raft at age 74 into the white water of the Class 5 Box Car rapids on the Deschutes River in "Hoppin" Maupin, OR; hosting family Christmas dinners; frequently parading and then tossing Maine lobsters into the Tunnel of Love; reading novels and poetry, the routine of Sunday dinners at Nana's in Pennington in the 50's (and years later with Rick, Miriam, Kimberly and Jimmy at Longview, NC), and discovering many creative ways to spend times with family and friends.

Anne is survived by: her son Rick (m. Miriam Ridley Ferris, MD; granddaughter Kimberly m. Jimmy Thomson; grandson Eric m. Liz Azzaro, great grand-daughters Mackenzie and Madison) and son Kimball (m. Sue Kirby Ferris; granddaughters Kerby Anne Ferris, Lisa Michelle Ferris, and Jill Elizabeth Ferris Harmon m. Jason Harmon of Sydney Australia.

Anne also leaves her step children David Tenney and wife, Catherine; Donald Tenney and wife, Marty; Brad Tenney and wife, Laurie; and Peter Tenney and wife, Alexandra; three step-granddaughters, Sarah (Jeff) Stammen, Leah (Eamon) Keating, and Lauren (Bryan)Tenney Flewelling; and three step-great-grandchildren, Alden Stammen, Miles Keating and Seraphina Flewelling.

Donations can be made to the Dr. Mary Cushman Circle in honor of Anne Tenney (Trinitarian Congregational Parish, P.O. Box 108, Castine 04421).

We love you, miss you already, and we will see you again in good time!

A Memorial Service for Anne will be held at 2:30pm on July 14, 2017 at The Cypress Club.