Anna Vardigan

Anna graduated from Huron High School in 1995 and worked at Hollywood Video in customer service and at the Center for Independent Living as a receptionist. She volunteered at Ann Arbor Adult Day and Respite Care and Huron Woods Memory Care Facility as a patient companion, where she brightened the lives of many with her infectious smile and kind manner.

Anna loved animals of all kinds, especially dolphins, monkeys, and birds. She enjoyed backyard birdwatching, especially the woodpeckers, and visiting local parks -- Gallup Park was her favorite. Anna was inspired by the mission of Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA), which rescues, rehabilitates, and releases dolphins and other sea creatures, and she symbolically adopted Winter, a dolphin who was rescued by the CMA and given a prosthetic tail.

Anna loved traveling to the Upper Peninsula every summer to spend time with family at her grandparents’ cabin on the Escanaba River and along the shores of Lake Michigan. She also loved country music, and a highlight of her life was attending a Shania Twain concert in Las Vegas and meeting Shania backstage for a photo after the event.

Throughout her life Anna faced many serious health challenges, including most recently multiple myeloma, diagnosed in 2017. Despite this, Anna was positive and upbeat, living life in the moment. Her beautiful beaming smile, wry sense of humor, and sweet and gentle presence were gifts to the world.

Anna is survived by parents Mary and John Vardigan, brother Benj and his wife Kylie Johnston (Minneapolis, MN), and grandmother Ora Vardigan (Marquette, MI) as well as numerous cousins, aunts and uncles, and special friends. She was preceded in death by her aunt Jody Bisdee and grandparents Betty and Bill Bisdee and Paul Vardigan.

Due to current COVID-19 risks, the family will not be hosting a large-group celebration of Anna’s life at this time. If you would like to visit with the family at their home (outdoors) in a socially-distanced way this summer, please email Anna’s mother Mary ([email protected]).

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Anna’s memory can be made to the International Myeloma Foundation or the Clearwater (FL) Marine Aquarium.