Anne Elizabeth Kutak

Anne Elizabeth Kutak passed away on April 6, 2026 at The Woodlands of DeWitt in DeWitt, Michigan. She was born in Chicago in 1937 and lived in Hammond, Indiana until 2015 when she had a stroke and moved to Michigan to be near her family and friends. She lived at Burcham Hills, in East Lansing, Michigan for eight years before moving to DeWitt.

Anne was known for her smile, which radiated joy to all who witnessed it (anyone who was kind to her). Some were also privileged to witness the classic Anne Kutak eye roll when she thought something was false or ridiculous. And she sported more blankets than anyone in either facility.

Anne graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in History in 1959 and in 1962 from the University of Chicago Law School. During this time, there were few women law students or lawyers. According to Anne, at orientation her freshman year, the college announced it would be holding its annual father-son brunch to honor all incoming freshman. (Anne and the one other woman in her class exchanged looks.) Also, according to Anne, just before graduation, a classmate of hers said they should get married; she could stay home and raise the kids. She replied, "What do you think I was doing in law school all these years?"

After passing the bar, Ms. Kutak was employed at Guarantee Reserve Life Insurance Company as Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel. She was honored in "Who's Who of American Women" as the first female general counsel of a life insurance company. During her career, she was also a member of the board of directors of the Salvation Army of Calumet Region, President of YWCA, the Treasurer of the South Shore Arts and the League of Women Voters.

After her retirement in 1987, Anne served for eight years as a full-time volunteer at the Hammond Legal Aid Association. The Indiana Bar Association honored her as Volunteer of the Year in 1992.

In 1999 she focused her attention on the problems of public education in Hammond and returned to her alma mater, Kenwood Elementary School, as a volunteer teacher's aide with a focus on tutoring gifted and underperforming students in language arts. She wanted to expose the children to new experiences, including the Chicago Shakespeare Theater's children plays and an NPR educational program. The Kenwood students created radio scripts for broadcast and later Anne helped her students produce a newspaper called "Kenwood Kids." As the presidential elections neared, Anne she procured actual voting booths so the children could practice exercising their (future) constitutional right to vote. She earned Kenwood a designation as an Indiana Centennial school and received the Hammond Education's Foundation Hero Award in 2005, and the Mayor's Volunteer of the Year Award as a children's advocate in 2006. Anne stated more than once, "If I had known how much fun this would be, I would have become a teacher!"

Anne loved theater ever since grade school when her mother took her to her first play, which she thought was magical. For many years Anne was a patron of the Goodman Theater, the Court Theater and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She also loved films and was a faithful attendee of the Saturday Matinee and the Friday Night Fascinating People and Places documentary program at Burcham Hills, where she lived for eight years, and served as the official screener for the program. If Anne liked a documentary, others were sure to like it too.

She also loved to read before her stroke and had an extensive collection of books lining the walls of her living room, den, bedroom and guestrooms in her home in Indiana. Her all-time favorite author was Joyce Carol Oates.

Anne especially enjoyed travel. She explored every state in the USA along the back roads in a motor home. Some of her favorite overseas trips were to Africa, China, Australia, the Galapagos Islands, the Soviet Union, and many countries in Europe. Her goal was to travel to all seven continents. She never did make it to Antarctica, but after seeing a documentary about Antarctica, she stated that she did not regret this.

Anne was preceded in death by her parents Jerome and Jessamine Kutak, and her sister Carolyn and brother Robert Kutak. She is survived by her sister, Mary Lou Gifford, brother-in-law, Roland Gifford senior, niece, Jennifer Foster, nephew Stuart Collin Foster, and grandnephew Alex Wall.

Private services will be held. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Save the Children, Children International, or Educate Girls, organizations which strive to eliminate the economic and societal inequalities that prevent children from receiving the quality education they deserve, or Make a Wish Foundation.