Mary Anne Carpenter Towle
VENICE, FL: It is with a profound sense of loss that we announce the death of our beloved mother, Anne Towle. Anne passed away on January 22, 2022, at the Venice Hospital in Venice, Florida, due to complications from COVID. She was 91 years old.
Anne was born on June 2, 1930 in St. Albans, Vermont, to Roy and Rosemary (Hackett) Carpenter. She spent her childhood and youth moving between St. Albans, Richford and Newport, Vermont, due to her father’s employment with the U.S. Customs Service. She graduated from Newport High School in 1948 and went on to graduate from LaSalle College in Auburndale, Massachusetts.
Anne had many friends from her years in Vermont and kept close to them throughout her life, even after moving to Florida in her later years. While working at Camp Elizabeth in Newport, Vermont, during the summer of 1949, Anne met and eventually fell in love with William “Bill” Towle from Richford, Vermont. After Anne’s graduation from LaSalle she worked in Boston. Following Bill’s graduation from Tufts Dental School in Boston, they were married in Newport, Vermont, at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Catholic Church on September 1, 1952.
Bill and Anne moved to Richford where he set up his dental practice and they raised their family. Anne was active in a number of clubs and groups. She was a member of All Saints Catholic Church and volunteered on many of the Church committees. She also belonged to the Richford Mothers’ Club, Kerbs Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, and other efforts too numerous to mention. She had a kind word and an empathetic and supportive nature that was available to all, and she was much loved by the many who knew her. Anne also enjoyed a good laugh and was known to launch a few zingers in her time. She also kept a loving, warm and inviting home well-known to her children’s friends who loved to spend time at the Towle house with her, talking, laughing, making cookies, and sampling her wonderful fondue on cold winter nights after a day of skiing at Jay Peak.
Anne also enjoyed golfing as she and Bill were long-time members of both the Richford and Newport Country Clubs. She loved her time with family, particularly summers spent at the family camp on Lake Memphremagog in Newport. Anne (and Bill) retired to Englewood, Florida, where they enjoyed many happy years with new and old friends. During this time Anne became a dedicated Tampa Bay Rays fan, and with the arrival of Tom Brady, she became a fan of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well.
Anne was predeceased by her husband Bill, her son Andy, and her brother William Carpenter.
She leaves her children Kathy of Tampa, Florida; Michael of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and Betsy and her husband Jay (Brightman) of North Wales, Pennsylvania. She also leaves her grandchildren Andrew Towle, and Andrew, Samantha and Emma Brightman, all of whom dearly loved her and will miss her very much. She leaves many nieces and nephews who remember many holiday dinners at the Towle house in Richford.
Anne’s children are making plans for a Funeral Mass and Burial Mass for her in Richford, Vermont, to be held sometime this summer 2022. Donations in Anne’s memory may be made to Variety-The Children’s Charity of the Delaware Valley, at varietyphila.org
Farley Funeral Home in Venice is handling the arrangements. A message of condolence may be sent by visiting www.farleyfuneralhome.com
