Ann Marie Peters
Aug. 26, 1928-June 24, 2014
Gresham, Oregon
I saw the next door garden lie, Adorned with flowers, before my eye, And many pleasant places more, That I had never seen before.
Ann Marie (Christman) Peters passed away June 24, 2014, in Portland, Oregon. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on Aug. 27, 1928, to Joseph and Marie Christman, Ann grew up with her five siblings in Ridgewood, New Jersey, where she attended Catholic elementary school and graduated from Ridgewood High School. After high school, Ann attended Brown University, graduating as an English major. Always adventurous in her work life, she worked briefly as a trader at the New York Stock Exchange, and for JP Morgan & Company and Data Systems Corporation, where she was a computer programmer -- a rarity for a woman in that era. Her career took her to Madison, Wisconsin, Rochester, New York, and Southern California. It was in the Golden State while trying to sublet her apartment that she met David Peters, whom she married in 1958. The marriage lasted over 20 years and produced three children: Juliet, Christopher and Lawrence, all born in California. The family moved back near her hometown in the mid-'60s to be closer at Ann's parents and siblings. They returned to California in 1979, and Ann lived in the Greenmeadow area of Palo Alto up until the early '90s; her two sons graduated from Palo Alto and Gunn high schools in the early '80s. Ann continued to live on the West Coast for the rest of her life.
Ann's passions included poetry, literature and art. She could recite many a sonnet and ballad; some of her favorites include "Kubla Kahn," "The Swing," and "Foreign Lands." Her pencil drawings were both intricately detailed and impressively creative. She enjoyed cooking and entertaining, traveling, Benny Hill, The New Yorker Magazine and animals.
But her main devotion was to her children, with whom she would explore and laugh, inspire and teach, protect and challenge. This was especially true of her relationship with Christopher, her second son who has Down's syndrome. Her commitment to him and his welfare was something truly inspiring, a challenging situation she always embraced and never complained about. In the Palo Alto area, she also did some volunteer work for other individuals with mental disabilities.
As her children grew up, Ann tried her hand at retail, real estate and working for the U.S. Census. She also traveled, in the U.S. and Europe, to visit family, attend college reunions and weddings, and explore the world. In her 70s, while attending a wedding in Italy, she rented a car with her sister and ventured out to see more of the country. She also enjoyed spending time with her three grandchildren and her extended family in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In 2006, she moved with Christopher to Portland, Oregon, where her youngest child, Lawrence, lives with his family. She enjoyed the sites and sounds of the Pacific Northwest and exploring them with family. In the last few years, her health declined and she was happy to have family near to help her out.
Ann is survived by Juliet and her husband and two daughters, Lawrence and his wife and son, and Christopher -- along with her brother Robert Christman, her sisters Jennifer Shepherd and Irene Hempstead, and their families.
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