Amherst, Ma: Anne G. Cann experienced deep joy in being with her family and experiencing every aspect of the natural world. She died on August 20, 2024, age 92 ½, just as the full moon began to wane, after a long, generous, and independent life.

Anne was, more than anything, an environmentalist. If you love to garden or hike, enjoy observing insects and birds, or seek a feeling of peace by looking for stars in the night sky, you are with her in spirit.

Anne’s parents were Kenneth Greenwood Garside and Alice Blake Hawes Garside. They both grew up in New Bedford MA and married in 1930. Anne was born in February 1932 in the Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie NY. She was the first of three daughters; her surviving sister Elizabeth (Jo) was born two years later and Caroline (also formerly of Amherst, who died in 2014) five years after that.

In 1937 the family moved to Duxbury MA, where her parents ran the Duxbury Cranberry Company. Growing up in this small New England town was special. Anne had many fond memories of the cranberry bogs, salt marshes, and nearby beaches. She attended the public schools of Duxbury until age 15, when she enrolled at the Cambridge School of Weston as a boarding student. At the Cambridge School Anne discovered her interests in art and biology.

Anne then attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs OH. The promise of Antioch’s work/study program did not work out for her and after two years she dropped out and married Michael A. Cann. She met Michael in March 1951 during one of her work semesters in Chicago where she created tiny labels for fleas and other insects at the Field Museum. Michael, an immigrant and veteran, was working in the microfilm lab while attending the University of Chicago on the GI bill. In a letter to his parents, Michael wrote, “I better marry Annie before someone else does.”

Michael followed Anne to New England that summer, where she attended the Harvard summer school and he worked in the Heinz ketchup factory in Brookline. They were married in a small ceremony in Duxbury MA in September 1951. They returned to Chicago until Michael completed his master’s degree in 1953, when they moved back to New England. The next few years were devoted to family matters while Michael worked at Clarostat Industries in Dover NH, taught at the University of Vermont, and then completed his PhD in psychology at Boston University. The family moved to Amherst in 1960. Frederic was born in 1953 in Chicago, Robert in 1954 in New Hampshire, and Elizabeth in 1957 in Massachusetts.

At this time, when the children were all in the Amherst public schools, Anne returned to work on her education at the University of Massachusetts, earning a BA and MA as a Speech Language Pathologist in 1964. She immediately began working as a speech language pathologist in the Amherst elementary schools and later in the upper grades as well. She retired from the Amherst Regional Public Schools in 1991, after twenty-five years working in a great school district.

 In 1965 Anne and Michael started building a house on Mill Lane in South Amherst, where members of the family still live. Here Anne kept her horse Robbie in a stable in the back yard and often saddled up after work to ride through the fields and woods nearby. She continued her interests in cycling, sailing, swimming, kayaking, and rowing all her life. She rowed on the Connecticut River until her late 80s, and wore out her walker while routinely covering up to 9000 steps a day until shortly before her death.

Anne was a board member of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment for 12 years during its early formative period. This organization reflected Anne’s interests and values and she supported it in a variety of ways throughout her life, including being part of the Capital Campaign for the new building when the Center moved to its current location on the campus of Hampshire College.

Anne contributed to her community in other ways as well. She served on the Town of Amherst Human Services Funding Committee for six years during the 1990s and was a guide at the Emily Dickinson Museum from 1991-2001.

Anne’s interest in gardening led her to become a Master Gardener in 1996 and she maintained her membership in this organization to the end of her life. She supported many public gardening and tree-planting projects, and was deeply involved in developing and caring for the Town of Amherst’s Orchard Arboretum at Applewood for more than 15 years.

She and Michael built a small passive solar house in Dartmouth MA in 1987, which they visited often. While staying there, Anne was a volunteer at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and enjoyed transcribing the whaling logbooks of the ships captained by her great grandfather, Jonathan Capen Hawes.

Anne and Michael enjoyed travel and visited Europe many times to stay in touch with Michael’s relatives who lived in Sweden, Germany, France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

In 2005 Anne and Michael moved to Applewood in South Amherst. Anne enjoyed exercise programs, Tai Chi, and caring for the Orchard Arboretum. Michael passed away in 2012; they were married for 61 years. Anne remained at Applewood to be near her many lifelong friends and served on various Applewood committees related to governance, health, and wellness.

As a hearing-impaired resident, Anne used her professional knowledge and skills to provide information and improve program participation among hearing-impaired residents.

 Anne managed a chronic illness with grit and grace for several decades. The family is grateful to the clinical expertise and support provided by the lymphoma program of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Also, they are extremely appreciative of the kindness and exceptional end of life care provided by the Hospice of the Fisher Home.

Anne is survived by her three children: Frederic Cann, of Portland OR; Robert A. Cann and his wife Catherine Bickford, of Amherst MA; and Elizabeth Cahn, also of Amherst. She is also survived by her sister Jo Goeselt of Exeter NH, as well as a nephew Brian Goeselt and niece Laura Smith and their families.

Anne was extremely grateful for her grandchildren: Alexander L. Cann and his husband Dominic Varacalli of Vancouver WA; Adrian T. Cann and his wife Elisabeth Piper of Austin TX; Rebecca M. Cann and her partner Anton Lord of Amherst MA; Madeline G. Cann, also of Amherst; and Anthony Zavin, of Portland OR. Other beloved members of the extended family include Samantha Floyd and her husband Julián Ettinger-Jara of Norwalk CT.

Donations in Anne’s memory may be made to the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West St, Amherst MA 01002.

https://www.hitchcockcenter.org/donate/

Burial will be private.

A public celebration of Anne’s life will be held at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment on October 19, 2024, from 1:30-3:30pm. If you plan to attend, please be mindful of limited on-site parking.

Memorial guestbook at www.douglassfuneral.com