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The family of Anne Louise Pettengill uploaded a photo
Thursday, August 31, 2017
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The family of Anne Louise Pettengill uploaded a photo
Thursday, August 31, 2017
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The family of Anne Louise Pettengill uploaded a photo
Thursday, August 31, 2017
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The family of Anne Louise Pettengill uploaded a photo
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The family of Anne Louise Pettengill uploaded a photo
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The family of Anne Louise Pettengill uploaded a photo
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marion (pettengill) murdock lit a candle
Saturday, March 16, 2013
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I think of Anne frequently, and even though she's been"gone" for nearly a year, I still feel her presence strongly. Anne was one of the most loving, generous and forgiving people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I will always miss her, but will carry her in my heart forever!
G
Ginny Prather posted a condolence
Sunday, May 20, 2012
One of my first memories of Aunt Anne is when we went to visit the cousins and were allowed to go up to the attic. In my little girl's mind, it was a magical place - it had that wonderful attic smell and it was where Aunt Anne kept all the wonderful Halloween costumes she had made. The one I remember most was a giant, orange, wired pumpkin. I was totally amazed that anyone could make such a thing. When I had the opportunity to move to New York to work, she opened her home to me until I could find a roommate and then let me use an extra dresser for the several years I was there. She took me to Mystic Seaport and I will always remember sitting on a rock, at night, looking at the stars over Long Island Sound. I had never seen anything like it.
Our Aunt Anne was full of talent, had great patience and strength and always had an eye for what someone else might need. She was loved and will be missed; she left behind many, many stories.
Her loving niece, Ginny
T
The Prather Family lit a candle
Sunday, May 20, 2012
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In loving memory
L
Lois Pettengill posted a condolence
Saturday, March 31, 2012
"Hello! My name is Anne..... with an E." That is how my mother-in-law would introduce herself. Anne with an E. E.... E for excellent? E for exceptional? E for entertaining? Endearing? Enthusiastic? Extraordinary? Maybe all of these adjectives.
Born Anne Louise Thompson in Philadelphia on July 2, 1919, Anne never knew her parents. She was orphaned at a very young age and unofficially adopted by a nurse. Back then, people didn't worry so much about lawyers and paperwork. She was raised as an only child. Apparently she was a bit of a rascal! She would tell us stories of her youthful escapades, including one story that nearly had a tragic ending. It was winter and she went sledding on a hilly street where she had been warned not to go. In those days Philadelphia had trolley cars. Sledding half way down this hill, Anne saw a trolley car crossing the street ahead of her. She couldn't stop! She went right under the trolley car and came out the other side unharmed!
As a young woman, she met Joe Pettengill. They fell in love and married on December 7, 1941-a date we all recognize as Pearl Harbor Day. Joe was a warrant officer in the US Army Signal Corps and off he went to do signals intelligence in the Pacific theater. He returned after the war, but his health had suffered. In 1949 he was hospitalized with tuberculosis in the VA hospital at King's Point, NY. Over the next decade he spent a total of over 3 years in the hospital recovering. Life was very hard for Anne during this period. Living in northern New Jersey with 4 young children to care for, she worked 2 jobs to support her family. She was a secretary, a typist. With her "no quitting" attitude, she worked tirelessly to meet the needs of her family.
By the time I met her in 1965, she was working as a secretary in a church, a position she held for many years. This occupation suited her well, as she always enjoyed helping folks. She had a big heart - a huge heart. She always had time to give a warm smile and a hug, always had room for another plate at the dinner table, always had time to help. I have not known a more giving person. If she had a fault, it is that she was too generous. She gave whatever she could, helped wherever she was needed, did whatever it took. Always sharing, always caring.
I have to tell a story on my husband here. His senior year in college was drawing to a close. Term papers were due, deadlines approaching. The term paper? Due tomorrow, still unwritten. It was already evening. Crunch time. Call Mom! His dear mother, typewriter tucked under her arm, drove the 45 minutes to our apartment to bail him out. They sat on opposite sides of the kitchen table, Julian with his pen and paper and mom with her typewriter. Julian would write a page and pass it over to her. She would type the page while he wrote the next one. They continued like that until the sun rose. Mission accomplished! Hooray for Mom! She saved the day. And she had to go back home and to work. Thanks, Mom, for being there when you were needed!
She showed the same helpful spirit when our children were born! To Indiana for Sally. Keeping house, cooking meals, doing laundry, showing me the ins and outs of being a new mom. She helped me in so many ways. Then to Michigan when Matthew arrived. She had just undergone surgery on her shoulder, but she was determined to come and help. Then here in Sterling. Everyone had come to our house for Christmas. Danny was supposed to arrive Christmas day, but waited until New Year's to make his appearance. She extended her Christmas vacation so she could lend a hand. Always there when we needed her - she wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.
Anne was very creative, very artistic. She painted beautiful landscapes, many of which grace the walls in our home. She worked in stained glass, creating lamps, chandeliers, terrariums, sun-catchers, and more. She sewed most of her own clothing. She taught me how to crochet and how to knit. She introduced me to macramé in the 70's. She was full of ideas and could do any craft in the book. If something new came along, she learned it in a flash. She made hundreds of Christmas tree ornaments. These she would pass out at Thanksgiving to friends and family, always saying, "Let me be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas". In the last 30 or so years she did a lot of quilting, making pillows, bedspreads, wall hangings, jackets and vests, and purses. A creative mind and talented hands, busy all the time.
She had a keen sense of humor, too. Funny lady! She was always ready for a laugh or a tease. The first time I had dinner at her home, we had spare ribs with BBQ sauce. When we finished eating, we stacked the plates up to take them to the kitchen. With a perfectly she straight face, she said to me, "I guess I'll have to wash BOTH sides of the plates tonight!" I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not! Then I saw the twinkle in her eyes!
Summer vacations were a high point in Mom's year. Two weeks at the beach in Greenport, at the tip of the northern fork of Long Island. She would ask everyone to come and join the fun. She invited nieces, sisters-in-law, friends, her children and their families, my mother, even friends of her grandchildren. She would plan the entire 2 weeks, do all the grocery shopping and lug all the stuff out there. There was almost always a new craft to learn and she brought all the supplies needed. Bad weather? Cold? Sometimes it rained a lot, but that didn't spoil her fun. We played cards and board games and did jig-saw puzzles indoors and drank cocoa, and we all had a good time anyway. She enjoyed perusing the tourist shops in town, buying bluefish right from the fishermen, and getting fresh veggies from the farm market. She especially loved watching the sailboats come into the harbor. For several years, she and Joe had an 18 foot sailboat and they spent many happy hours sailing on the bay at Greenport. There was something about the sea that touched her deeply. She is going back there soon; to rest in the place she loved the best.
Purple! That was her color! Purple! She had purple shoes, purple shirts, purple skirts, and slacks. She had a purple coat, purple nightgown, and purple sweaters. She had tons of purple jewelry, beads, rings, and bracelets. And her purse? Purple, of course! A lady at Sommerset once knocked on Mom's door and told her that her dryer was finished in the laundry room. "Thank you," Mom replied, "But how did you know that it was my laundry?" "It had to be yours!" was the answer. "Everything in there is purple!"
I loved my mother-in -law and I know she loved me. Not everyone can say that. From the first time I met her she welcomed me into the family and made me feel like I belonged. I was very lucky to have her. I cherish my memories of her. I can look around in any room of my house and see something she has created, some gift she has given me. Not so long ago she gave me a plaque to hang on the wall. The plaque read, "Some people make the world a better place just by being in it". I should have handed that plaque right back to her and said, "Ditto". That description certainly fit her.
Anne - with an E. I think the E stood for everlasting. I know she will have an everlasting place in my heart.
C
Carl Pettengill posted a condolence
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Mother's Love
Her love is like an island
In life's ocean, vast and wide
A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the wind, the rain, the tide.
'Tis bound on the north by Hope,
By Patience on the West,
By tender Counsel on the South
And on the East by Rest.
Above it like a beacon light
Shine Faith, and Truth, and Prayer;
And thro' the changing scenes of life
I find a haven there.
- Author Unknown
I will be forever grateful for the love and support my mother gave me. Through good times and bad, she has always been there for me. I miss you, Mom, and I love you.
Her youngest son Carl.
L
Liz Leahy posted a condolence
Saturday, March 31, 2012
My mom was the reason I got my driver's license. She helped me practice and she told my Dad that she really needed the car on the day of my test. He usually had the car for work and she had to get him to leave it home. He wasn't sure he was ready for me to have a license so he wasn't encouraging. But she got it done for me. She pushed me to go to college, to follow my dream. She taught me to sew and to appreciate handmade things. I have several of her oil paintings and a stained glass lamp that she made hanging in my home. She loved my husband and was a wonderful Mother In Law to him. She told me several years after Skip and I married that she wasn't really sure about him when I first brought him home because he had a beard. But she never let on that she had doubts or concerns. She encouraged both of us to live our lives to the fullest and to follow our hearts. She was an amazing example of love, encouragement, and caring without judgment.
Mom came to visit us every year in California. One of her favorite places in the world was Yosemite. We always made a trip and spent several days there. We camped in tents or had cabins and she didn't care which. Every time I go there I remember her being next to me and raving over the views and the water. She loved the water. She and I could sit by the streams or the falls for hours on end. She had double knee replacement surgery on the same day and a year later she beat me to the view bridge for Nevada Falls and I was in good shape. She could run rings around all of us together and not look tired or pushed. She had an enormous capacity for life. She gave me, my husband and our children and grandchildren an example of how to live that has impacted each of us for the good. She taught us how to appreciate what we have and to help others. We are all blessed, those of us lucky enough to have known her, and she will always live in my heart.
J
Joanne Hayman posted a condolence
Saturday, March 31, 2012
I have wonderful memories of Mom, picking wild berries by the Passaic River, sometimes eating more than we picked, then making jams and jellies, pies from the peach trees next door. Pie making was a skill I certainly did not inherit, but I did make Prickly Pear jelly.
Long weekends and occasional weeks at Aunt Janet's cottage in Greenport, were always so much fun, and lots of laughter and Love. I remember how creative Mom was, going to Bloomingdales and Macy's in New York, with a tiny notebook. She made sketches and notes, then came home and made wonderful things, for Liz and I to wear, or for gifts, but rarely for herself. Aunt Janet, Mabel Harvey, (who turned out to be my mother-in-law's sister), and Mom got together one night a week, at each other's homes, and made wonderful ornaments and gifts out of tin cans, and tin can lids and other unusual things. When they were finished the things they made were wonderful.
I remember her taking care of us when Dad was in the hospital, making milk in the canning kettle, knitting, typing theses for students at the university, late in the night, whatever was necessary to keep us together and happy. I think one of the reasons I became an artist, was that she taught me to see and enjoy the beauty around us, the clouds, buildings, flowers. Oh her wonderful rock garden; vegetable gardens; the compost pile; and planting tulips by moonlight, because there was going to be a freeze that night. Mom taught me to be frugal, but not cheap, to be thankful for all we had, not to dwell on what we didn't have. It has followed me all through life, and every day I count my blessings. She brought many wonderful lessons to me, and I will keep her in my heart.
Her eldest daughter, Joanne Hayman
P
Patsy Fachet posted a condolence
Friday, March 30, 2012
I will always remember Aunt Anne for her amazing love of life....her energy and her beautiful handiwork. Every Christmas I would look forward to her Christmas letter telling us of all her doings (and her children's)....sometimes she would tell of this ailment or that....yet she would still have many things to tell of what she had created or done - such an impressive lady!! Her legacy will certainly live on...and she will be missed!!
B
BarbaraJean Pettengill Foster posted a condolence
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Aunt Anne was truly one-of-a-kind, and was the sort of person that everyone found easy-to-love. She gave of herself so tirelessly, and never asked for anything in return. I will forever remember the many weeks spent with her at her beloved cottage in Greenport ~ a place where she taught me to make beautiful pictures out of ugly seaweed, preserve the beauty of scallop shells by painting them with clear nail polish, and how to make endless bracelets and plant-hangers with macrame'. Her creativity extended to the kitchen, where she transformed fresh-picked beach plums into the main ingredient in a scrumptious cake, and revolutionized boring meatloaf by adding shredded carrots and other interesting and flavorful ingredients. As a young child, I never understood that she was doing these things to stretch a budget, and it was not until I was cooking for four on a very tight budget, that I remembered her techniques and incorporated them into my own kitchen. The things she taught me were often so subtle, that I never realized I was learning ~ I thought I was just having fun! Her love for Mom was endless, and those weeks at Greenport were the highlight of the year for both of them! I remember tagging along on endless trips to the fabric and yarn stores, nature walks where they harvested heaps of wildflowers which they arranged in every available vase, bucket and plastic cup in the house. Kindred souls, they were sisters in every way! As a child/teenager, I didn't "get it." As an adult, spending similar time with our dear sister Mary, I finally understood. Aunt Anne was a gift to everyone who had the opportunity to spend time with her, and she has left a very large and beautiful mark on this world. May she rest in peace knowing that she did, indeed, make a difference in this world. With fondest memories, BarbaraJean
m
marion murdock posted a condolence
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Mar. 28, 2012 Dearest Aunt Anne...much loved by all of us...who will be dearly missed! I will miss...and always remember her for...her kindness, her generosity, her faith in the "best" in everyone...her amazing Creativity...her strength and perseverance...her adaptability in any circumstance...the love she freely gave to all. Love is forever...I will truly miss her!!! Fondly Remembering, Marion xoxoxo
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