Anne Romberg Willis

Anne Romberg Willis, who was an historical interpreter and educator for Colonial Williamsburg for more than thirty-two years, died in the early morning of February 8 in Williamsburg, Virginia. She was 85.

Anne was born on December 21,1935 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the daughter of Margaret Louise Fisher Romberg and Albert Kenneth Romberg. She grew up in a Navy family and moved between the east and west coasts. During World War II, Anne’s family lived primarily in Alexandria, Virginia where her father was a Naval Architect working in the Bureau of Construction and Repair in D.C. to improve ship design and stability. Anne’s favorite childhood memories were from the family’s time in Kittery Point, Maine, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Coronado, California following the war years.

Anne earned her B.A. in history from Duke University and began teaching in San Diego after graduation. In 1960, Anne married Jack Willis and they moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, when Jack joined the English faculty at William & Mary. Once their three children were school-aged, Anne began working at Colonial Williamsburg as a tour guide and historical interpreter. She earned a master’s degree from William & Mary in American Studies in 1995 while working full time in the Department of Interpretive Education for Colonial Williamsburg. Anne’s thesis, “The Master’s Mercy: Slave Prosecutions and Punishments in York County, Virginia, 1700 to 1780”, examines the court proceedings of enslaved people. During her career at Colonial Williamsburg, she advocated for increased programming and interpretive sites to highlight the experiences of enslaved people. In 1998, she curated a collection of materials entitled Enslaving Virginia that has been used as a teaching and interpretation resource throughout Virginia.

After retiring from Colonial Williamsburg in 2008, Anne continued to teach courses on the history of slavery at the Christopher Wren Association. She also was an active member of Bruton Parish Church and served as a member of the vestry and the Diocese of Virginia Committee on Race and Reconciliation.

Anne was warm, friendly, and had a great sense of humor. She loved entertaining family and friends and was a great cook. Anne loved living in Williamsburg, and walked almost daily through Colonial Williamsburg and William & Mary where she often saw friends. She loved the outdoors and some of her favorite places were the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Western Cascades in Oregon, and the ocean in Coronado, California. She loved classical music and Russian literature.

Anne is survived by her three children and their families: John Willis and his wife Susan and their children Em and William of Durham, North Carolina, Tom Willis and his wife Julie Henderson of San Francisco, California, and Susan Willis Brodie and her husband Edmund and their children Eliza and Fisher of Charlottesville, Virginia and her sister Sara Worthington and her husband Jim and nephews Thomas and James and their families.

A memorial service will be held later this year at Bruton Parish Church. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to the “Anne R. Willis Scholarship Endowment” with a gift made payable to the William & Mary Foundation, c/o Gift Administration & Processing, P.O. Box 1693, Williamsburg, VA 23187. Here is a live link for contributions to the scholarship https://impact.wm.edu/willis . This endowment will provide need-based support for students who are descendants of enslaved people.