Ann Mannle Obituary
Ann Marie (Gartmayer) Mannle, 76, died peacefully on Sunday, February 16, 2025, surrounded by her family, after a long battle with dementia.
Ann is survived by her beloved husband Tom, with whom she shared over 51 years of marriage. She is also lovingly remembered by her son, Ryan Mannle and his wife Allie of Darien, Connecticut, along with their children Stafford (14), Carolina (12), Brooks (9) and Conrad (9); her daughter, Kate Soltow and her husband Jeremy of Seattle, Washington, also cherish her memory, along with their son Elliot (2).
Ann is also survived by her brother, Vincent Gartmayer (Chessie); sister, Mary Jaskowiak (Tom); brothers, Gerard Gartmayer (Jeanmarie), Thomas Gartmayer and many beloved nieces and nephews.
Ann was born in Flushing, NY on May 11, 1948, the second child of Robert Gartmayer and Catherine (Bissmann) Gartmayer. She grew up in College Point, New York, living down the street from her maternal grandparents, Henry and Mary Bissmann, until the family moved to Glen Cove, New York when Ann was six. Ann was very close to her Grandma Bissmann, from whom she inherited her playful humor.
Ann graduated from St. Patrick's parish elementary school and Glen Cove High School, the latter with a New York Regents diploma and scholarship. She graduated in 1970 from Ladycliff College in Highland Falls, New York with a B.A. in English and a teaching certificate. With a lack of teaching jobs in New York, her Ladycliff classmates urged her to re-locate to the Laurel, Maryland area, where teaching positions were available. She quickly found a position teaching a combined 4th/5th grade class at the West Meade elementary school on the Fort Meade, Maryland military post near Laurel.
Ann met Tom in October 1971 after Tom reported to Fort Meade for his first assignment as a 2LT in the U.S. Army. They caught each other's eye during a competitive game of charades at a mutual friend's house and after a brief courtship were engaged in July 1972 and were married the following year in 1973 before Tom was re-assigned to Okinawa, Japan.
Ann was a remarkably gifted and creative teacher; her specialty was reading and language arts, but she was accomplished in all parts of the K-6 curriculum, and later the pre-school environment as well. She taught for a time at a Department of Defense school in Okinawa and a Cumberland County, North Carolina elementary school near Fort Bragg. After Ryan and Kate were born and the family lived in Gloucester for the first time, Ann substituted at the Lanesville pre-school and then served as the Director, temporarily at first covering a maternity leave and then permanently. The family moved to Cabin John, Maryland in 1993 and Ann renewed her pre-school career at the Clara Barton Center for Children, where she taught for eight years. In 2001 she started as a "mainstream" pre-school educator at The River School in Washington, D.C., a private school for students with mostly normal hearing but specializing in inclusive education for students with hearing loss who use cochlear implants or hearing aids, with a focus on language, literacy, and social-emotional learning for everyone.
Ann's creativity at The River School is legendary. She taught math by first setting up a French bistro in Paris (taking orders (English), preparing bills (math), waiting on customers (manners), —and then repeating the exercise a few weeks later with a New York pizza joint. During the outbreak of the 17-year cicada brood in 2004, Ann had her students do "cicada math" by collecting cicada husks during their daily walks and tabulating them over a week's time—and then taking them home! Her teaching gifts extended to the children in her personal life as well, organizing "Camp Auntie Ann" in the summers in Gloucester for her nieces and nephews, and always having a kind word, funny prank, treasure hunt, or craft project at the ready for any kids in her presence who all seemed to gravitate to her orbit.
While in the D.C. area the family returned to Gloucester for many Christmas holidays and extended periods in the summer, and for Ann and Tom it was always home. Returning to Gloucester full-time in 2009, Ann re-established contacts with her old friends; with her creativity, organizational ability, and generosity, she was quickly recruited to help out with the Annisquam Good Neighbors, the Annisquam Sewing Circle, and the Cape Ann Garden Club, in which she eventually held different leadership positions in overlapping terms.
Ann loved gardening, sitting on the porch at the Annisquam Yacht Club or on Wingaersheek Beach with friends and family, traveling to Europe for walking excursions and to the Alisal Ranch in California. She loved Tom, Ryan, and Kate deeply and with her whole heart, and shared profound joy with them for the gift of her grandchildren: Stafford, Carolina, Brooks, Conrad, and Elliot.
Ann's family would like to profoundly thank Ann's loving caregivers, Kathy Schad, Sheila Logue, and Rebecca Nakigozi; Caring for Caring, LLC; Care Dimensions, especially Sybil Cahill, Kathy McKinnon, and Melanie Porter; and the staff at The Lafayette in Marblehead.
A Celebration of Ann's Life will be held at the Annisquam Village Hall in the spring on a date to be determined. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Chapel at the United States Military Academy, followed by inurnment in the columbarium wall at the West Point Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you call your Mom or get a little bit louder now during "Shout". If you insist, donations may be made to the Annisquam Good Neighbors, 734 Washington Street, the Annisquam Sewing Circle, 5 Union Court, located in Gloucester, MA 01930, or the Alzheimer's Association of America.
Arrangements by Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington Street, Gloucester, MA.
