Annabelle Duisberg

ENGLEWOOD -- Annabelle Duisberg was Southwest Florida's most vocal cheerleader for peace and human rights.

At almost any function involving area peace groups in the past two decades, you might find Annabelle leading the crowd in a rousing cheer, beginning with, "Oompah, oompah, sis boom bah; world brotherhood, rah, rah, rah." Even in her 90s, she could get a crowd going.

"Her sweetness was almost overwhelming," said longtime friend Augi Schmitz on Dec. 10.

"It could be almost comical to see an old lady doing that sort of thing, but her sincerity and depth of love for the whole idea would never pass."

Annabelle Duisberg died at age 95 on Sunday evening at Englewood Community Hospital.

She and her husband, Peter, founded the Englewood Peace Initiative Coalition and the Southwest Florida Peace Education Coalition, which later became the Southwest Florida Peace and Justice Coalition. That group now has 25 member organizations and thousands of members, said Schmitz, who is the group's chairman.

Annabelle Kottke was born on July 31, 1912, in Danube, Minn. She worked on the family farm and taught at a country school for 14 years to support her family after attending St. Cloud Teachers College.

"She had to work and save the farm," Peter Duisberg said Monday.

She later attended the University of Minnesota, where she earned her bachelor's degree and graduated at the top of her class. While there, she ran a boarding house for international students, which was not a popular endeavor. In addition, Peter Duisberg said, Annabelle heard about the plight of Japanese Americans interned in California during World War II and arranged for some to stay at the boarding home in Minneapolis.

She later studied for a master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania, where she met her husband. They were married in a Quaker wedding on Dec. 18, 1946.

They moved to New Mexico and Texas, where Peter Duisberg worked as an agricultural chemist. While in El Paso, Annabelle's Presbyterian Church women's group led a desegregation drive at local restaurants, according to her son, Larry.

Later, the family moved to Central and South America, where they continued to work for human rights causes. Peter Duisberg first served in Central America as a professor of agriculture studying soils under the Alliance for Progress. He also worked for the United Nations and the Organization of American States.

While abroad, Annabelle started international folk dancing groups in Chile, Panama and Nicaragua. They lived in Englewood from 1971 to 1976, then returned for good in 1988.

Schmitz said Monday, "She was a wonderful individual."

The Duisbergs began the World Peace Day activities in Southwest Florida approximately 15 years ago. An award in their name is given out every year.

"A lot of the credit goes to Peter and Annabelle," Schmitz said. A tireless worker possessed with deep beliefs about human rights, "She contributed with spirit and enthusiasm in ways that were incalculable," Schmitz said.

Annabelle Duisberg is survived by her husband, 87, and two sons, Larry and Jerry. Memorial services are pending.