Ann Louise Stadler

Born Ann Louis Holzhauer on June 12, 1928. Died on June 19, 2014.

Preceded in death by her father, Philo J. Holzhauer, her mother, Cora M. Holzhauer, and her husband, George T. Stadler.

Survived by her daughter, Sara Ann Jenkins of Pleasureville, Kentucky, her son, George Thomas Stadler, Jr., of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and her grandsons, Sean Thomas Stadler, of Chicago, Illinois, and Mathew John Stadler, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

Ann had deep roots in Detroit, Michigan. Her father’s paternal great-grandparents all emigrated from Germany in the early 1830’s and settled directly in the Detroit area. Both of Ann’s paternal great-grandfathers served from Michigan in the Civil war. Ann herself was born in Detroit and was raised as an only child by devoted parents. Her father worked at General Motors designing vehicles, and her mother was a dedicated homemaker. Ann received her mental sharpness from her father and her even-temper as well as a strong moral sense from her mother. From both her parents she learned how to laugh. Ann graduated as class valedictorian from Berkley High School in Oakland County and then attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. One of the very few co-eds to enroll in the business school, there she would meet her future husband. Ann graduated from the business school in 1950.

Following graduation, George Stadler and Ann Holzhauer decided to marry; the wedding occurred on November 18, 1950. George initially worked for Chevrolet (later jumping ship to Ford where he would work as a market analyst for 25 years), and Ann worked as a buyer for Crowley’s, a big downtown Detroit retailer.

In time, however, Ann chose to stay home and be a mother. A daughter, Sara was born in 1956, and a son, Tom in 1958. The same year that Tom was born, George and Ann bought a house in Livonia Michigan. Livonia was a typical middle-class community in that era: the dads went off to work and the moms tended the children and the house-with virtually everyone living in a three-bedroom ranch and hardly anyone every moving away. Instead of knocking or ringing the doorbell, neighborhood kids would yell their friends name when they wanted them to come out and play, and parents would bellow their kid’s name or go looking if they wanted them. (Telephones were secondary and a sign of desperation) In Livonia, neighbors were close, but families, some of which were quite large, were even closer

As Sara and Tom got older, Ann and George started looking for a new hobby and settled upon square dancing and round dancing. They took their dancing quite seriously and sometimes argued about the correct steps. When the facts were finally known, Ann invariably had been right and George wrong. Regardless, they loved dancing together and participated in countless venues. Dancing continued to be a passion in retirement, including after they moved to Tucson in the early 1980’s. In retirement, they also came to enjoy travel to such places as Hawaii, Alaska and Europe, but also all over the continental United States. They also made many trips back to the Midwest to visit Sara and Jim in Kentucky and Tom, Lisa, Sean, and Matt in Illinois.

Ann sometimes reflected on how life gets better as one gets older. She never said exactly what she meant by that, but she held it to be true. Part of it was probably the perspective that comes with age, but another part of it was Tucson. Ann and George loved their Tucson townhouse and were very happy there. They had a big part of George’s family in Tucson; they had wonderful neighbors and a great community in which to live. Ann herself volunteered untold hours at the University Medical Center. There was also Tucson itself; the blue sky, the sunshine, and the mountains-they had a view out their front window that never ceased to give one pause.

They also had each other. When it became obvious in January 2011 that Ann could no longer live at home, George decided to move out and live wherever she would be. When he passed away in February 2012, they had been married for 61 years. She had some clarity at the time of his death, and she experienced the magnitude of the loss. Fortunately, her disease prevented her from dwelling on it too much. Ann and George had a long life and a wonderful retirement together. They were blessed, and the world is a better place because they were in it.

Arrangements under the direction of East Lawn Palms Mortuary, Tucson, AZ.