January 9, 1929 – September 19, 2022
Antoinette (Ann) Marie Brownlow (nee Iarossi) died on September 19, 2022. Ann was born on January 9, 1929, in Waltham, MA, the 11th of 14 children. She was raised primarily in Waltham, MA, and worked at SS Kresge, where she met her husband of 69 years, William Brownlow (who died in October of 2018). They had five children.
Her daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will remember her fondly. She leaves daughters Joanne Bachran, Beverly McKie (Phil Spofford), Emilie Rettig (Jon), Nanci Murphy (Harvey Ford), and Sheila Brownlow (Deal Safrit, d.), and her grandchildren, Alissa Circle (Kyle), Joshua Bachran (Allyn), David Rettig (Chrissy), Daniel Rettig (Stephanie), Amy Rettig, and Daphne Safrit (Ashton Pryor). Her great-grandchildren are spread around the country; Katelyn and Brayden Circle (California), Isaac Bachran (Connecticut), Ethan, Abigail, Lily and Kayla Rettig (Texas), and Margot May, Amélie, and Héloise Pryor (North Carolina).
Ann’s living brother Alfred Rossi (Sandy), and sister Josephine McKinnon (Charles, d.), will continue to remember her. She also leaves many nieces and nephews (and grand and great-grand nieces and nephews), all of whom fondly remember “Auntie Antoinette” and her Christmas parties, figure 8 cookies, and cookouts in the lush yard.
Ann had many interests, skills, and hobbies which she pursued while raising her five girls. At one time, she was a champion candlepin bowler; she also loved to square dance with Bill. She was an excellent seamstress—she even made her own square dance skirts! At one time or another, she was a cake decorator, bird house painter, bridge aficionado, and wool rug braider. She loved reading mysteries, watching television police shows, hearing Big Band music, and doing crossword puzzles. She was an amazing cook and would regularly feed the neighbors batches of chocolate chip cookies. No one can forget her eggplant or her famous pickled watermelon rinds.
She worked in retail and could sell anything because she always knew her products; she was one of the first to own a food processor. She collected curios and had a house full of the Dickens Christmas Village during the holidays. She and Bill enjoyed travelling around the country and the world to visit their family. She loved everything about gardening, and she and Bill had a gorgeous garden in their yard every summer. They worked tirelessly to make the garden an oasis of beauty for people, bunnies, and birds. Her greatest passion, however, was one she found later in life, and which never bored her – painting scenes on wood and canvas. Her house (and her daughters’) walls are adorned with her work.
While all of her daughters share some of her talents, none of them have all of her talents. Ann is with Bill now, no doubt enjoying a beautiful garden, holding hands, and listening to music.
A visitation will be held at the Douglass, Edgerley, and Bessom Funeral Home 25 Sanborn St. (corner of Woburn St.) Reading on Friday, September 23, from 10am to 12pm. Her funeral service and burial will be private.
Donations in her memory to either Wounded Warriors https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate or Lahey Hospice https://www.lahey.org/lhmc/giving/, who treated her with total respect and dignity.
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