Ann Shell

Beloved mother and grandmother, widow of Bill, big sister to Ruth and Pearl, loyal volunteer, faithful friend, and brave world-traveler, Ann died peacefully after a full life, surrounded by her family. (this bio was written by her sons, and is a work-in-progress. She lives on in each of us! John, eldest son) Ann was born - the first of 3 daughters - on a farm outside of Guthrie, Oklahoma, and throughout her life hewed closely to the values she learned as a girl: honesty, kindness, thrift, plain talk, and the value of a good laugh. If you weren’t listening closely you might not know that she had just made a mischievous joke. Her sharp wit and sense of humor was with her til the end - you could not get anything past her. Of her and her 3 sisters, she would explain: Pearl was the "smart one", Ruth was the "beautiful one" and I (Ann) was always (and I think this kind of "grated" on her, as the oldest sister) had to the "good one". This is so true, and, true to form, over the years as our quiet, loving Mother, she gently and quieted imparted her "goodness" (without words) "to" and, ultimately, "in" each of her sons and this lives on in all of us. She loved to garden and even when she "downsized" and was no longer able to spend hours with her hands in the dirt she made sure that her terrace was filled with flowering potted plants. She made thirty or forty varieties of cookies and candy every Christmas, and it seemed like once a week she baked a birthday cake for a friend, a neighbor or a co-worker. Her creativity abounded and she would design a special "theme" cake for each of her sons' birthday with the interest. A "Penny Cake" a "Football Cake", you name it - she could make it! And she was sure to make each holiday special for her family. She was very private with her feelings and not a demonstrative by nature but she gave her heart without reservation. This can actually be seen in her eyes in so many pictures we have of her. She was twenty-two when she married for love, and with a husband and four sons migrated to Texas and then to Northern Virginia, where she never tired of exclaiming about “how green everything is! and marvelled and loved the hills - (being from flatlands in OK and West TX)” Except for a brief adventurous sojourn (she bravely transferred within Buick when her office here closed to a zone office in CA) in the San Francisco Bay Area before her retirement, where her sons were able to visit her for some CA adventures! She spent the rest of her life in the D.C. area, punctuated with annual treks to various and sundry locations around the world, from Europe to Nepal to Australia! ( Did I mention "she loved to travel!") Early in her life Ann decided she didn’t like her first name, Clara (“it just sounded so old-fashioned,” she said, “like an old biddy or even, "old bell-cow"!”), and so while many of the folks back home called her Clara, or Clara Ann, to her friends, co-workers, fellow volunteers and neighbors throughout her life she was known and loved as Ann. She never liked having a fuss made over her but was not-so-secretly thrilled to see many friends and loved ones at her 80th and 90th birthday bashes thrown for her by her sons. In retirement she loved to travel, play canasta, take classes at OLLI (now Osher Life-Long Learning) including Reader's Theatre which she participated in with her dear friend Lynn, and of course stayed in touch with family and friends (of whom she has hundreds!) . She was a dedicated and beloved volunteer at the Fairfax County Public Library and the Inova Fair Oaks Hospital Auxiliary - for over 23 yrs and 12000 "official" hours, serving in various roles, made many friends and was named Volunteer of The Year. Of her volunteer work over the years, she said with full heart, "It was well worth it!". She told me her favorite volunteering "job" was to be "Eyes for the Blind" taking people with low-vision on outings. She has requested that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the FOH Auxiliary. In the final years of her life Ann's live-in companion, chaffeur and loving care giver was her eldest son, John. This was quite a challenge for her, with her being such an independant and a private person. And now she had to deal with a talkative extrovert all the time! Oh, no! Off and on in earlier years, and for the final months her son Mark moved and helped with magnificent family meals and great companionship, enjoying old movies together, doing jigsaw puzzles and when she was able going with her to the gym for her 30 minutes on the treadmill and outside, weather permitting, for walks. There is so much more to say and remember about Mom. She is survived by her sister Ruth, sons John, Mark, Kent and Paul, and granddaughter, Lily, plus so many friends and fellow volunteers.