ANNE M. McDONNELL

Palmer resident Anne Marie McDonnell, 89, died Aug. 15, 2004, from a long battle with Alzheimer's, with her family at her bedside.

Services are scheduled as follows: Viewing at 1 p.m., with a Mass at 2 p.m. and reception following at 3 p.m. on Monday, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wasilla, with Father Kasper Mallavarapu officiating. She will be laid to rest beside her husband and sons at the St. Peter and Paul's Catholic Cemetery in Springfield, Pa.

Mrs. McDonnell was born July 29, 1915, in Philadelphia, where she attended and graduated in the class of 1933 from West Catholic High School. She went on to further her education at Rosemont College in Rosemont, Pa.

She retired in 1969 after a 30-year career with Chilton Publishing Co. of Philadelphia as a proofreader. In 1997 she moved to Alaska to live with her daughter.

She was a member of the CWA/IT union as well as holding memberships in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Our Lady of Peace in Milmont Park, Pa., and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wasilla. She loved reading out loud, writing poems and collecting antiques and dolls.

Her family said of her, "Anne was a kind and gentle soul with a wonderful smile. Her family was the center of her universe."

Her husband of 30 years, Peter McDonnell and sons, Patrick McDonnell and Paul McDonnell, preceded her in death.

She is survived by her son, Peter McDonnell, of Palmer; daughter, Nancy Kent; son-in-law, Charles Kent; grandson, Brenden Kent, all of Wasilla; sister, Helen McHugh and her husband, John McHugh, of Blackwood, N.J. Several nieces and nephews also survive her.

Memorial donations in Mrs. McDonnell's honor may be sent to the Palmer Senior Center at 831 S. Chugach St., Palmer, AK 99645 or the Alzheimer's Resource Center in Palmer, (907) 746-3413.

Arrangements were made by Valley Funeral Home & Crematory in Wasilla.