The Obituary

Ann Offermans, Nov. 12, 1926 - Dec. 26, 2008
Originally uploaded by Harmonie66

Ann Offermans, 82, a career-long teacher of the handicapped, passed away on December 26 after a very brief bout with cancer, and an eight-year-long battle against Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Ann was born Anna Maria Fijen in the town of Afferden, province of Gelderland, the Netherlands, on November 12, 1926; she was one of a family of seven girls.

In 1946, while still living in the Netherlands, she became a teacher to those with mental, emotional and physical disabilities. While working, she also studied towards her Master’s degree in Special Education.

After World War II, her father was a warden of Nazi sympathizer POWs at Amstenrade Castle in the province of South Limburg, and it was there on a tennis court that she met her future husband in 1947. They married in April 1954.

In 1959, they immigrated to the United States, and Ann received her U.S. Master’s degree in Special Education in New Jersey. She continued to teach in this field for the duration of her career, until she retired from Roosevelt School in the Pasadena Unified School District in 1989.

After also briefly living and teaching in Minnetonka, Minnesota, she became a resident of La Cañada Flintridge in 1970, and she called it home for the remainder of her years.

Ann loved spending time with her friends and family. Over the course of her life, some of her favorite pastimes included playing tennis and bridge, doing crossword puzzles, and, most especially, traveling the world (particularly enjoying the wildflowers of Switzerland). The last fifteen years of her life, she could be found nearly every weekday and Saturday morning sitting with friends at Zeli Coffee Bar.

Ann is survived by her husband John and her daughter Marianne. Services were held at St. Bede the Venerable church on Tuesday, December 30, followed by cremation; some of her ashes will be transported to the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Contributions in her memory may be made to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization or to the American Lung Association.