Dorothy Cuff

Dorothy Anne Cuff, who won the contest for the biggest smile, talked to absolutely everyone, and was known to some as "Pinky", passed peacefully at home surrounded by her daughters on Thursday, August 4th. She was 94 years young. Anne was born December 22nd, 1927 in Port Huron, Michigan to her loving parents, Raymond and Anna Calhoun. She was a spunky, fun-loving child with an infectious laugh who grew up to be a woman full of spirit, strength, and joy. Anne attended the University of Michigan and graduated with honors. She loved her time at UofM - living in the Martha Cook House and going to all the big dances. She received a teaching certificate from Columbia University before setting off to Europe in 1951 with her exceptionally vibrant friend Sally Donovan Atkinson. They worked and played in London and Paris before Anne went off to teach English in Nuremberg, Germany. In 1953, Anne returned home to the States and married Edwin William de Cossy. They settled in New Haven, Connecticut where he attended Yale University School of Architecture. She taught school in New Haven before starting their family. She was an incredibly loving and adventurous mother to her girls. They spent most days outside as she valued play above almost anything. In 1977, Anne married her second husband, Frederick "Freddy" Lawrence Cuff. He was an engineer and self-taught artist. He cherished her and took on the task of helping to raise three teenagers, relishing every minute of being with Anne and the girls. After a career in real estate in Connecticut, she and Freddy retired to Charlottesville, Virginia in 1999. She spent much of her free time gardening and playing bridge with her closest friends in Glenmore. She was a terrific friend and loved to travel and meet people. She had an unquenchable curiosity and desire to learn, taking up piano and Chinese in her 80s. She especially delighted in the time spent with her grandchildren and was always initiating playtime and teaching them her favorite games Go Fish, ping-pong and wiffleball. Freddy died on Thanksgiving day, 2016 and Anne missed him every moment of every day. She is also preceded in death by her brother, Leo Melvin Calhoun, who was her best friend and childhood co-conspirator. She will be sorely missed by her children and grandchildren: Anne Forsyth (husband Mark) and Lisa Sherman (husband Tom, children Sam, Noah and Nick) of Rye, New Hampshire; and Nicole Sherman (husband Bill, children Arianna and Porter) of Charlottesville, Virginia. She will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery at a future date where she will join, the love of her life, her beloved Freddy. All who are interested and able, she would be delighted to have her memory support the young girls at SEGA, a school in Africa dedicated to advancing the education of young women. Anne and Frederick Cuff Endowed Scholarship. Nurturing Minds, P.O. Box 600617, Newtonville, MA 02460, www.nurturingmindsinafrica.org/donate