Anna Mae Kann

“Of course I remember Mrs. Kann” is an admission still heard around Lake County, IL where Anna Mae Kann taught English and Literature to hundreds of kids over a 24-year career at St. Francis de Sales school in Lake Zurich IL. After 88 years of family, friendships, service and hijinks she died peacefully in Albuquerque on October 11.

Anna Mae (Kohl) Kann, known as “Mick” to her family, was born on the northwest side Chicago, on May 14, 1926, the third child and first daughter of Veronica (McCarthy) and Joseph Kohl; her younger twin sisters followed a few years later. Her life was filled with joy, accomplishment and tragedy. She lost a younger sister, Joan, to a childhood accident, her oldest brother, Ken, in WW II and her other brother, Bud, in 1960. As a youngster she often accompanied her mother to wakes, because that’s what you did as a member of Chicago’s tight knit communities. She also danced, wonderfully, and when young travelled with dance troupes.  

Anna Mae met her future husband, transplanted North Dakotan Bob Kann in the closing days of the War, on a Sunday afternoon in a neighborhood tavern. During the course of a lengthy and spirited courtship she graduated from Mundelein College—she was the first in her family to graduate from college--and worked as a social worker in Chicago. She married the love of her life, and was blessed with four children, Kevin, Terry, Veronica and Deirdre. When Deirdre entered grade school, she was recruited to substitute teach 2nd grade at St. Francis. The next year she became a full-time member of the faculty, and progressing through the grades more quickly than her children, spent 20 years teaching 7th and 8th grades.  She was a superb teacher; very few graduated without knowing how to write, defend their positions or diagram a sentence (tragically, a lost art).

Anna Mae was active in her church and community, and after moving out of Chicago’s south side she hosted an annual picnic for the south siders on Memorial Day. At Christmas she hosted a caroling party for her many new friends. Eventually, these social events merged circles of friends and absorbed new generations.  She dearly loved her family and her husband, and so learned to share her husband’s love of camping. She may have honeymooned in New Orleans, listening to Jazz, but every family vacation was spent hiking in the western mountains and canyons or canoeing the far north woods. As the kids left home, she and Bob began exploring more global sites from photo safaris in Kenya, coming home to Ireland, and cruising down the Yangtze, to pyramid climbing (and dodging a charging bull) in Mexico.  Her final international visit led her to the Torres del Paine in Chile.  

After retirement, Mick and Bob moved from Chicago to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, where she tangled in the local politics of the homeowners association and saw her first night-blooming cereus. Though she lost Bob after 46 years of marriage, she stayed on the island, volunteering at the Eastsound Public Library and the senior center, serving as an extraordinary minister for the parish, and coaching one young woman to a GED. Finally, 11 years ago, Anna Mae moved to Albuquerque to be close to Dee, her husband Steve and grandchildren Amelia and Alex. There she met her great companion Katrina, a rescued black and white Australian Heeler mix who provided her entry into the “Dog Park Ladies” society. Additional highlights were the flowers her own night-blooming cereus finally produced.

Mick loved Chicago, being Irish, Jazz, family and a good time. She worked hard, stayed engaged and accomplished much. She was troubled by injustice and suffering and did what she could to alleviate it. She is survived by her sister Dolores and brother-in-law Larry; her children Kevin, Terry, Ronnie and Dee; her son-in-law Steve and daughter-in-law Catherine; and her grandchildren Amelia, Alex, Joe and Gloria; her extended family including nieces, nephews and now their children, and many friends. She will be sorely missed here, but will surely be joyously welcomed by those loved ones who preceded her.

The family would like to share their gratitude to her caregivers, for their faithful and loving care over the past three years. With their smiles and interest in Anna Mae’s stories, and their constant attention to Katrina, they did much to make every day pleasant.

A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, October 18, 2014, at 3 pm at Daniels Family Funeral, 3113 Carlisle NE, Albuquerque. A funeral mass will be held in the Chicago area in November. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to your favorite charity or to Doctors Without Borders or Roadrunner Food Bank, two charities which enjoyed Anna Mae’s strong support.