July 12, 1934 – June 3, 2013
Ann Louise Grodewald Husmann was born in New York on July 12, 1934 to Anna and Christoph Grodewald. She grew up there, attending various public schools (valedictorian of her high school class!) and working in her parents’ delicatessen, then attended SUNY at Stony Brook, studying to become a teacher. She met the man who was to become her husband, Jack Henry Husmann, when his parents ran the store for a summer while her parents vacationed in Germany. They married on Aug. 10, 1957 and moved to Southern California shortly thereafter.

Ann worked as an elementary school teacher until she started her family — first Chris, then Linda, and finally Walter — then she stayed at home. As her children grew older, she thought about returning to teaching, and ultimately founded a preschool at her church, Good Shepherd Lutheran in Torrance. Later, she directed another preschool program while earning her master’s degree in early childhood education. Then she moved on to teach at the college level and earned her Ed.D. in early childhood education. She taught at El Camino Community College in Torrance for many years, and when she got bored with “only” teaching, she went back to school yet again, this time to study for her MFCC. She never got tired of learning.

Ann retired in 1998, and she and her husband moved to Davis to be closer to her daughter and granddaughters. She took classes in piano and painting — things she had dabbled in before she retired. She was active in book groups, in her church (Davis Lutheran), various charities and University Farm Circle.

She is predeceased by her husband, Jack, who died in 2001 after 43 years of marriage, and her brother, Karl, who died in November 2012. She is survived by her brother, John Grodewald and his wife, LeeAnn, of Maine, her children Chris (Karen), Linda (Toni Voelker) and Walter, and her grandchildren, Lisa and Heidi Voelker and Eric Husmann, as well as many cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

A service in memory will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 27, at Davis Lutheran Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to STEAC.

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