Ann Allan

Annie’s primary early objective in life was to have a family of 6 children which she achieved & cherished her whole life, along with 8 grandchildren. She loved babies! She was tremendously gifted in everything she tried. She purchased a house in Eastham in 1993, where she & her family vacationed, & moved there from her longtime home in Elmira, NY in 2007. Among many interests she volunteered at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. While volunteering for turtle conservation & rescue she met Bill Allan, fell in love & they married in 2016 in the backyard of their new home on Rock Harbor Marsh. After a year long battle with cancer she passed away peacefully on September 3, 2025 in her home with her loving husband at her side.

Born in Staten Island, NY December 7, 1947 Ann was the second of four daughters of Marjorie Wadsworth and Henry Eisengrein, both of Staten Island. Ann graduated from New Dorp High School and St. Luke’s Nursing School in Manhattan. Her journey would take her to Rhode Island, Georgia, California, New Jersey, Florida, Elmira, New York and ultimately Cape Cod. Ann took endless joy and pride in the many musical, academic and athletic achievements of her family. Mom was famous for her handmade Halloween costumes, Thanksgiving feasts, artistic projects, knitting Christmas stockings for her grandkids, taking long hikes, leading turtle tours, and traveling with her husband to places across Europe, Africa, Galapagos, Amazon, Costa Rica, Alaska and Hawaii. Ann was a decorated equestrian, competitive tennis player, expert puzzle and games enthusiast, and artist.

Annie & I often told people that we had turtles to thank for our union. When she was just starting to volunteer for the Sanctuary & got interested in turtles, I volunteered to mentor her as I had done for many new volunteers. But she was different. On our first training session we had more spontaneous laughs than serious instruction. At the end she responded not about the instruction but “that was entertaining”. And so our relationship began & grew to our marriage in 2016 & beyond. For 12 years she & I worked together in summer to recover the population of Diamondback terrapins in Eastham’s Bay marshes & then in late fall to rescue cold-stunned sea turtles on Eastham’s Bay beaches. I do not imagine that there would be many wives who would awaken late at night in thirty-degree weather with wind blowing 30-40 kts to go walk beaches at high tide in search of stranded turtles. But she knew that we were the difference between life & death for these endangered turtles, so she did it with enthusiasm. That was who she was, doing anything for anyone that she thought was important. But more so she brought happiness to me & most people who knew her. She was smart, beautiful, funny, nice & kind. We had something very special together. Our song was Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. If Annie was substituted for Caroline, it could closely be a song of our relationship & love for each other, especially the verse “But now I look at the night/And it don’t seem so lonely/We fill it up with only two”. She filled my life with happiness.

Before Bill there was a group of friends that went ice skating together. The skating was a disaster with all falling, some onto their heads. But it was the start of 16 years of friendship between Carol, Judi, Meg, Sandy & Annie who periodically met together for functions other than skating. Annie named the group The Day Lillies. The Day Lillies met frequently during her months of sickness to support her battle right up to just before she passed away. Thank you Day Lillies!

Ann is survived by her children, Jennifer Donohue of Portland, OR, Mark Donohue (Augusta Reese) of Cold Spring Harbor, NY, James Vaughan of Boulder, CO, Patrick Vaughan of Arlington, VA, Timothy Vaughan (Christine Capeless) of Delmar, NY, and her grandchildren Halie D’Angelo, John Donohue, Frances Donohue, Ava Donohue, Aidan Vaughan, Luke Vaughan, Conor Vaughan and Teagan Vaughan.

There will be a “Celebration of Annie’s Life” at a time & place to be determined in the near future.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary or Dana Farber Cancer Institute.