Ann, I'm so sorry to hear of your passing, I remember watching you bowl you were so good made me feel like a real beginner ( which I was ) but you always had a smile and time to talk for a bit no matter how busy you were. We will all miss that smile. God speed, and may you be half an hour in heaven be fore the devil knows your dead.
So sorry to hear of Ann's passing. We were classmates at Dewey and we lived a couple of blocks apart on 38th to 40th street west. Fine times as children playing on Bun's Hill with bikes and winter sleds. She had a very strict mom, and I suspect that caused her to want more freedoms. This business of loosing friends keeps on keeping on --and should cause us all to stop and make sure we are not only living right but are surely focused on the important things and people of life. Bests to all in this great Belleville class.
Ann was a dear friend. Both of us attended Dewey School and would take turns spending the night at each others homes. I will never forget Ann, her Mom and I making salt water taffy in their kitchen. Lots of pulling and laughing and so delicious.
Ann was also the only girl that could keep up with the boy's sports at Dewey and was always the first girl picked for the teams. So bright, always a smile on her face and I can't recall her ever saying anything negative about anyone. She was a dear friend who drove from St. Louis to attend my parent's funerals in 2000 and 2010.
You will be missed my dear friend but you have left behind so many warm memories.
Sending prayers to your family Ann of your passing. I was glad that I had a chance to talk to you at the class reunion. We were classmates at Dewey and very competitive on the baseball diamonds. Will miss your smile.
So sad to hear of Ann's passing. What a wonderful, lovely, kind, and beautiful person. I didn't get a chance to catch up with her at the reunion and I regret that deeply. She was a fine athlete, baseball, bowling and she shot a great stick (pool). I know I was smart enough not to get in a game with her, unless it was doubles and I was on her side!! RIP Ann.
I was sorry to hear of Ann's passing and she will be missed. I first met her when we were classmates at Dewey Grade School which was a very long time ago. Ann always had a ready smile and had an upbeat personality. I am so glad I got to see her at our 50th class reunion. Although her journey here on earth has ended, a new one has begun. Godspeed.
This appeared in the April 19, 2015 Belleville News Democrat.
In Memory of Ann Bosworth Chidsey
Ann Bosworth Chidsey dies on June 4, 2014. A fact. Death, like love, is not science. It's but a word in a family - grief, sorrow, heartache, lamentation - whose household head is love.
Ann's brother, Lewis Bosworth Jr. of Madison, WI, will live longer, as will her cousin, Sally Breitreiter Justman of Murells Inlet, SC and cousins Dick and Joan Dow of Mukwanago, WI. Ann will be missed, too, by special friends, Lyn and Carl Huenke of Brisbane, Australia.
It's easy to imagine Ann across the years as the subject of a selfie, in one of her many settings; playing the accordion almost bigger than she and wearing the tiger-spotted leotard of an acrobat - cartwheels on the front lawn (minus the accordion)! Or just across the street on North 41st Street in Belleville - after church on Christmas Eve at Ken and Doris Harris' home. Move down the street and over on the North Belt West a bit to Bel-Air Bowl, and you might catch Ann bowling a 300 game - several of them at the age of 15. She wins the St. Louis Women's Championship at about that age! A classmate writes: "...she shot a great stick (pool). I was smart enough not to get in a game with her unless it was doubles, and I was on her side!!"
During the 90s Ann is found living in an almost-deserted village on the Little St. Francois River in the foothills of the Ozarks, near Farmington, MO. She tends to her little charm of hummingbirds, gardens and entertains friends and family in the detached gazebo-like porch. A real gentlewoman farmer. In the evening, several beers heavier, the guests would start a never-ending, multiple-deck game of "Oh, Hell" until sleep gets the better of them.
Ann’s talents aren’t limited to the bowling alley. At BTHS she is an actor, becoming a Thespian as a freshman, an accomplishment that had happened only twice before in the school's history. Her best role to date - still a freshman - is Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Lynette Bryant. And she is elected to the Student Council as a freshman. This honor sticks with her as she is later elected Vice-President of the student body at SIU in Carbondale, where she double-majors in chemistry and math.
The story starts back at Dewey School:
Eleanor Krug, Anna Grommet and Rosalie Commet. J. V. Wilson at the helm. And Frances Eckert, God bless her! As the hymn goes: "how firm a foundation" is an education from the hands of such teachers. Be it Ann's equanimity on the basketball court or softball field or her numerical prowess, Dewey School rocks!
Another selfie by way of Christ United Church of Christ. The inimitable Ruth Busekrus' Christmas pageants and Ann's lovely girl soprano are a perfect match. We can hear that voice singing "I Would Be True", a favorite of Ann's mother. Ann does not favor regular church attendance in her later years, however she marries her dear Charlie Chidsey in a ceremony at home, her Aunt Ola Bowman at the organ, and the Rev. Dr. A. R. Tinge, officiating.
Summers over the years, dating back almost to infancy, are spent at Nonnie's house in Neenah, WI - Nonnie is Anna Blank Breitreiter, Ann's maternal grandmother - always a huge family reunion plus daily trips to the "farm", the country home / poultry farm of Uncle Penner and Aunt Sarah and cousins Spence, Sally and Steve. Neenah is a destination for Belleville natives Thelma Neuner and Cherry Thomas, and an opportunity for .Ann to meet folks like the Leffell family and the Bandow boys from 3rd Street. Doty Park is a favorite recreational spot. Ann's mother, it seems, is related to half of Neenah!
Thinking of Ann's death and the stormy ills that trumped her last years, we may consider these lines: Beginnings are ends, ends beginnings; Resolve is invincible; In the attics of existence we read that people are truly good at heart; So, while we suffer diets of the body, we mustn't ever diet the mind; Let our hearts do cartwheels; Our minds bellow like an accordion; and, Our tongues speak forgiveness.
Rest eternal, Ann of the infectious smile… May your name be one day inscribed in the Bosworth family Bible beneath those of Gideon Wanzer and Sally Haire Durga and Hugh Hancock and Lottie May Durga Bosworth.
For all the saints who from their labors rest, who thee by faith before the word confessed,
Thank you David for posting the lovely memorial for Ann. I somehow missed it and I read the BND daily (its a love, hate relationship).
This was so beautifully written and I wish I had known Ann better in high school and beyond. Our connection was Roger Hyde Accordian School. We had a few laughs as we struggled with that instrument (what were we thinking??)
It was a pleasure working with her on the Class Reunion Committee. You will be missed, Ann.
Gerald Nieman
Ann, I'm so sorry to hear of your passing, I remember watching you bowl you were so good made me feel like a real beginner ( which I was ) but you always had a smile and time to talk for a bit no matter how busy you were. We will all miss that smile. God speed, and may you be half an hour in heaven be fore the devil knows your dead.
Jerry Nieman
M L. Hillard
So sorry to hear of Ann's passing. We were classmates at Dewey and we lived a couple of blocks apart on 38th to 40th street west. Fine times as children playing on Bun's Hill with bikes and winter sleds. She had a very strict mom, and I suspect that caused her to want more freedoms. This business of loosing friends keeps on keeping on --and should cause us all to stop and make sure we are not only living right but are surely focused on the important things and people of life. Bests to all in this great Belleville class.
ML. Hillard
Barbara Muehlhauser (Bailey)
Ann was a dear friend. Both of us attended Dewey School and would take turns spending the night at each others homes. I will never forget Ann, her Mom and I making salt water taffy in their kitchen. Lots of pulling and laughing and so delicious.
Ann was also the only girl that could keep up with the boy's sports at Dewey and was always the first girl picked for the teams. So bright, always a smile on her face and I can't recall her ever saying anything negative about anyone. She was a dear friend who drove from St. Louis to attend my parent's funerals in 2000 and 2010.
You will be missed my dear friend but you have left behind so many warm memories.
Barbara
Barbara Fitzsenry (Fitzsenry)
Always sad to lose a classmate; RIP, Ann and sincerest condolence to her friends and family.,
Nancy Orander (Louis)
Sending prayers to your family Ann of your passing. I was glad that I had a chance to talk to you at the class reunion. We were classmates at Dewey and very competitive on the baseball diamonds. Will miss your smile.
F. William Orrick
So sad to hear of Ann's passing. What a wonderful, lovely, kind, and beautiful person. I didn't get a chance to catch up with her at the reunion and I regret that deeply. She was a fine athlete, baseball, bowling and she shot a great stick (pool). I know I was smart enough not to get in a game with her, unless it was doubles and I was on her side!! RIP Ann.
Barb Saul (Carrico)
I was sorry to hear of Ann's passing and she will be missed. I first met her when we were classmates at Dewey Grade School which was a very long time ago. Ann always had a ready smile and had an upbeat personality. I am so glad I got to see her at our 50th class reunion. Although her journey here on earth has ended, a new one has begun. Godspeed.
GloriaJean Hawthorne (McCormick)
I did not know Ann until the reunion commity started but she was a very nice person. I enjoyed the time we spent togther she will be greatly missed.
David Buckley
This appeared in the April 19, 2015 Belleville News Democrat.
In Memory of Ann Bosworth Chidsey
Ann Bosworth Chidsey dies on June 4, 2014. A fact. Death, like love, is not science. It's but a word in a family - grief, sorrow, heartache, lamentation - whose household head is love.
Ann's brother, Lewis Bosworth Jr. of Madison, WI, will live longer, as will her cousin, Sally Breitreiter Justman of Murells Inlet, SC and cousins Dick and Joan Dow of Mukwanago, WI. Ann will be missed, too, by special friends, Lyn and Carl Huenke of Brisbane, Australia.
It's easy to imagine Ann across the years as the subject of a selfie, in one of her many settings; playing the accordion almost bigger than she and wearing the tiger-spotted leotard of an acrobat - cartwheels on the front lawn (minus the accordion)! Or just across the street on North 41st Street in Belleville - after church on Christmas Eve at Ken and Doris Harris' home. Move down the street and over on the North Belt West a bit to Bel-Air Bowl, and you might catch Ann bowling a 300 game - several of them at the age of 15. She wins the St. Louis Women's Championship at about that age! A classmate writes: "...she shot a great stick (pool). I was smart enough not to get in a game with her unless it was doubles, and I was on her side!!"
During the 90s Ann is found living in an almost-deserted village on the Little St. Francois River in the foothills of the Ozarks, near Farmington, MO. She tends to her little charm of hummingbirds, gardens and entertains friends and family in the detached gazebo-like porch. A real gentlewoman farmer. In the evening, several beers heavier, the guests would start a never-ending, multiple-deck game of "Oh, Hell" until sleep gets the better of them.
Ann’s talents aren’t limited to the bowling alley. At BTHS she is an actor, becoming a Thespian as a freshman, an accomplishment that had happened only twice before in the school's history. Her best role to date - still a freshman - is Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Lynette Bryant. And she is elected to the Student Council as a freshman. This honor sticks with her as she is later elected Vice-President of the student body at SIU in Carbondale, where she double-majors in chemistry and math.
The story starts back at Dewey School:
Eleanor Krug, Anna Grommet and Rosalie Commet. J. V. Wilson at the helm. And Frances Eckert, God bless her! As the hymn goes: "how firm a foundation" is an education from the hands of such teachers. Be it Ann's equanimity on the basketball court or softball field or her numerical prowess, Dewey School rocks!
Another selfie by way of Christ United Church of Christ. The inimitable Ruth Busekrus' Christmas pageants and Ann's lovely girl soprano are a perfect match. We can hear that voice singing "I Would Be True", a favorite of Ann's mother. Ann does not favor regular church attendance in her later years, however she marries her dear Charlie Chidsey in a ceremony at home, her Aunt Ola Bowman at the organ, and the Rev. Dr. A. R. Tinge, officiating.
Summers over the years, dating back almost to infancy, are spent at Nonnie's house in Neenah, WI - Nonnie is Anna Blank Breitreiter, Ann's maternal grandmother - always a huge family reunion plus daily trips to the "farm", the country home / poultry farm of Uncle Penner and Aunt Sarah and cousins Spence, Sally and Steve. Neenah is a destination for Belleville natives Thelma Neuner and Cherry Thomas, and an opportunity for .Ann to meet folks like the Leffell family and the Bandow boys from 3rd Street. Doty Park is a favorite recreational spot. Ann's mother, it seems, is related to half of Neenah!
Thinking of Ann's death and the stormy ills that trumped her last years, we may consider these lines: Beginnings are ends, ends beginnings; Resolve is invincible; In the attics of existence we read that people are truly good at heart; So, while we suffer diets of the body, we mustn't ever diet the mind; Let our hearts do cartwheels; Our minds bellow like an accordion; and, Our tongues speak forgiveness.
Rest eternal, Ann of the infectious smile… May your name be one day inscribed in the Bosworth family Bible beneath those of Gideon Wanzer and Sally Haire Durga and Hugh Hancock and Lottie May Durga Bosworth.
For all the saints who from their labors rest, who thee by faith before the word confessed,
thy name, O Jesus be forever blessed.
Alleluia! Allelulia!
Barb Wittlich (Uhrig)
Thank you David for posting the lovely memorial for Ann. I somehow missed it and I read the BND daily (its a love, hate relationship).
This was so beautifully written and I wish I had known Ann better in high school and beyond. Our connection was Roger Hyde Accordian School. We had a few laughs as we struggled with that instrument (what were we thinking??)
It was a pleasure working with her on the Class Reunion Committee. You will be missed, Ann.