Anne Powers

Anne (Sullivan) Powers, 86, of Milton and Harwichport, died peacefully at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston on May 11 after spending Mother’s Day with her family. Beloved wife of 65 years to William J. Powers. Devoted sister to George Sullivan and his wife Betty of Acton and James Sullivan and his wife Barbara of Darien, Conn. and to the late Mary Ford, Catherine Collins and Eleanor Sullivan. Doting mother to John and his wife Elaine of Wellesley, William, Jr. and his wife Jane of Quincy, Anne “Nancy” and her partner Ruth of Quincy, Timothy and his fiancee Joanne of Natick, Miriam of Lafayette, La. and Damien of Milton. Treasured grandmother to Jonathan, Evan, Meaghan, Caitlin, Kristen, Connor and Maya and great-grandmother to Georgianna. Cherished aunt to all her nieces and nephews. Anne was a most popular and glamorous member of the Cambridge High & Latin School Class of 1942. After graduating from Bryant & Stratton she worked as a secretary at Lever Brothers and at the law firm of Ropes & Gray and later for 40 years at Sullivan Realty. She was the family genealogist who could identify every twig on a tree that had its roots in Ireland. The information clearing house for all, she was a one-woman wire service who dispensed news, advice and anecdotes to her expansive brood. A voracious reader, especially of biographies, Anne also was a prodigious writer of letters and notes with a graceful hand, a skilled crossword solver and a clever Scrabble player with a knack for the triple word score. She was a tireless holiday baker of raisin bread, cookies and pies who worked wonders with lard, baking powder and confectioners’ sugar as well as a generous and gifted entertainer whose big tent had room for all and whose Christmas card list was nearly papal in its reach. Anne was a woman of style and sophistication who appeared to be a decade younger than her age, a lover of marches, big-band music, show tunes and Sinatra. She was tenaciously attached to terra firma, with an aversion to air and sea travel, but now views her former world from an eternally elevated place. Visitation will be on Friday, May 20 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at Keohane Funeral Home, 785 Hancock St., Quincy MA, 02170. A celebration of life service will be held in the funeral home on Saturday May 21 9:15 am prior to the Requiem Mass which will be held at 10:00 a.m. in St. Elizabeth Church, 350 Reedsdale Rd., Milton, MA 02186 with burial to follow at Milton Cemetery, 211 Centre St. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Literacy Volunteers of MA-Quincy, Thomas Crane Public Library, 40 Washington St., Quincy MA 02169. Attn: Mary Diggle.