Ann B. (Bowman) Reese, age 91, of Winchester, passed away on June 4, 2019. She was the beloved wife of the late Raymond J. Reese.
Born in Cambridge, she was the daughter of the late John C. and Julia M. (Goulsky) Bowman. Ann was raised in Jamaica Plain, attended Saint Thomas Aquinas High School and was a graduate of the Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School.
Ann started her early career in banking, met and married her husband Ray, then settled down as a homemaker to raise her family.
In later years when most of the kids were on their own, Ann took up the art of Japanese Bunka Embroidery. With her meticulous eye for fine detail, she entered her work on a competitive level and won numerous ribbons, including first place in a state competition. She also volunteered for many years at the Jenks Senior Center in Winchester.
Ann Reese was a titanic woman, diminutive in stature yet indestructible in substance. The majority of her 91 years were fraught with the day-to-day worries steeped into her being after being responsible for six children, a feat made that much more difficult by her beloved husband Ray being weakened by an early heart attack when the eldest was only nine. Her ability to feed, shelter, clothe and parent those six children, all of whom became substantial adults, is a testament to her unyielding faith, her indomitable will, her resourcefulness, courage and tenacity. After the death of her husband, Ann retained her firm grasp on independence venturing into the workforce, staying active in the community and the church and living out her days in that same house on Henry Street. She is one of the last of a generation assured in its values, determined in its behavior and resolute in its courage. In her famous last words, “I’ll let you go now dear.”
She is survived by her six children: Glenn Reese and his wife Joanne of Wakefield, Deborah Skinner and her husband Robert of Malden, Michele Reese of Monterey, CA, Scott Reese of Los Osos, CA, Gregg Reese and his significant other Donna Merry of Plymouth, and Gabrielle Hersee of Port St. Lucie, FL. Ann also leaves behind her four grandchildren: Jason Reese and wife Lindsey, Jamie Krasnyansky and husband Mark, Cody and Kaela Hersee, and great-granddaughter Mya Isabel Krasnyansky. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to gather at Costello Funeral Home, 177 Washington St., Winchester, on Sunday, June 9 from 2-6PM, and again on Monday, June 10 at 9AM followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Eulalia Church, 50 Ridge St., Winchester at 10AM. Burial will follow in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Arlington.