Ann Willis Martin

Virginia Ann Willis was born on October 3rd, 1933 in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Ann was the second of four daughters born to Margaret (Dryden) and Burr Willis. Her sisters Martha, Sara and Linda were complimented by five brothers: Horace, Tommy, Bud, Tyke and Beau. Family was central throughout their lives.

Ann married her high school sweetheart, Buddy Martin I(James E.)n 1955 and they had two sons, Dave and Steve. Ann and Buddy were married 69 years and lived in Nashville, Tennessee from 1965 until their respective deaths in 2025. Buddy died January 8th and Ann died at home with hospice care on November 15th.

Her brother Bud wrote in his book, Bluestocking that “If my mother ever came close to getting it just right, it would have been with Ann. She was the youngest of Mama’s three Depression era children and the enormous wake Ann left behind at Tullahoma High made it easier in many ways for the next three to draft behind her. Ann was the epitome of what a role model should be, and her teachers loved her. More than a beautiful girl with a magnetic personality, she wa a natural and competent leader. Open and honest, she was trustworthy to the core and faithful to her friends and to her beliefs. If Ann loved you, she loved you warts and all and she loved you forever. She was the kind of sister that every young boy would like to have, but she sure set the academic bar real high.”

Ann had a gift for seeing the best in each person in her sphere and a way of bringing out the best in others. She passed along that innate ability to sons and reinforced it by word and example every day.

Ann is survived by her sister Linda and brothers, Bud and Beau; by her sons and four grandsons, Ryan, Eric, Marty and Dillon; and by niece Alicia (Myatt) and nephews Jimmy Lance, George Thrower, Kirk and Kevin Willis, Dave and Ben Reichenau and three great grandchildren and a host of extended family. She danced her way to heaven and looked forward to that heavenly reunion with those who preceded her through this mystery we call death.

Services are pending and will be held by Zoom. In lieu of flowers, donations in her honor may be made to Alive Hospice, 1718 Patterson Street, Nashville, TN. 37203