Ann Dolores Carnahan

Ann Dolores Carnahan, known to her family as “Grandma Ann, GG and Nani,” and longtime Fullerton resident passed away on May 8, 2023, at home in Fullerton, CA. Ann was born April 6, 1930, in Geneva, Illinois and was the only child of Bertrand and Edythe Carlson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Lloyd Carnahan and son Jeffrey Carnahan, who was eighteen (18) years old.

Ann attended Geneva Community High School 1948 in Geneva, Illinois. She went on to

Knox College in Galesburg, IL., graduating undergraduate school in 1952 with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. While in college she enjoyed membership in the Tri-Delta Sorority. Ann later earned her degree in Landscape Design from Fullerton Community College in 1983 and enjoyed owning a Landscape Design business with her partner for 20 years called “Green With Envy.”

Ann and Lloyd moved with their family to California in 1957 and to Fullerton in 1959. While raising four children, she was a valued member of the Fullerton community and generous with her time in Pop Warner football, Little League baseball, Fullerton Recreational Riders, the Sunny Hills Racquet Club, and in community service with many organizations including National Charity League, Fullerton Chapter and Friends of Jazz, Inc.

Ann was an avid golfer and began playing golf in 1959. She initially joined Yorba Linda Country Club and was the ladies Club Champion six times in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1980, 1984, and runner up four times. Later she joined Hacienda Golf Club and was Club Champion in 1994 and 1997 and was the Net Club Champion in 1999, 2005, 2011, 2014 and 2016. She also won the Presidents Cup in those exact same years. She was the senior Net Club Champion in 2012 and 2014. Ann had 9 holes-in-one. Even in the last years of her life, at age 91, she still enjoyed playing golf 2-3 times a week with the younger ladies of Hacienda, who recognized Ann as “Woman of The Century”.

Through her children’s friends and the Fullerton doctors’ families, Ann had many special relationships. Ann touched many lives with her thoughtfulness, zest for life, positivity, dry sense of humor, friendship and helping others. Ann enjoyed life and was always open to a new adventure.

Ann and her husband Lloyd were married for 59 years. She is survived by her two sons and their spouses Scott and Karen Carnahan and Jay and Kris Carnahan; her daughter and her spouse Erin and Vaughan Barnes; her eight grandchildren, Cheyne, Chase, Conner, and Christian Carnahan, Courtney Hasson, Ashley Carnahan, and Allie and Katie Barnes, her three great grandchildren Emerson and Wyatt Hasson and Aisling Carnahan.

We are saying our prayers thanking God for having Grandma/Nani in our lives as a loving and dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. We will miss her loving kindness, dry wit, love of animals, and excitement she brought to all occasions.

A Celebration of Life service for Ann Carnahan will be held on May 31, 2023. For more information, please contact Erin Barnes at [email protected]. Gifts may be given in loving memory of Ann Carnahan to Friends of Jazz, Inc., P.O. Box 5671, Fullerton CA, 92838, or the Humane Society of U.S., 1255 23rd St, NW, Suite 450, Washington D.C., 20037.