Obituary of Elizabeth Ann Van Norden McDuffie

Elizabeth Ann Van Norden McDuffie died peacefully on October 22, 2018, in Southbury, CT, at age 88. 

Born January 28, 1930, to Elizabeth Bradford and Max L. Van Norden, Ann grew up in Rye, NY, with older brother Pierre. She attended Rye Country Day School, Oldfields School, and Sweet Briar College (1951). Ann was married to Charles Howard McDuffie in 1954, and they lived in Bedford, NY, until his death in 2012. Ann was a dedicated mother to four daughters, Sunshine McDuffie Tartter, Carrington McDuffie, Katharine McDuffie Etchells, and Margaret McDuffie. She was a devoted grandmother of six and greatgrandmother of two.

Ann was intelligent, playful, creative, determined, courageous, resourceful, warm and beautiful. She loved all of nature, particularly plants, gardening and the preservation of open space and wetlands. She was an active member of the Bedford Conservation Board, the Regional Review League, the Herb Society of America, and the Bedford Garden Club, including service as president or director in the latter three. While her first job after college was dress and swimsuit model, she pursued teaching in the Bedford Public Schools, owned and ran a highly successful business called Chimney Cricket, and was an appointed horticultural judge for national shows. Among her many volunteer contributions to her community, Ann gave her time to Planned Parenthood, the John Jay Homestead, and numerous nature sanctuaries in the greater Bedford area. 

Among her varied interests, Ann loved to read books of all kinds, talk about issues in the news, and she travelled widely with Charles throughout the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, the UK and western Europe, South Africa, Turkey, Iran, India, China and the Southeast Asian Peninsula.

A Memorial Service for Ann McDuffie will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 17, at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Cantitoe Road, Bedford, NY, with a reception immediately following in the Parish Hall. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Ann's memory to the charity or organization of your choice. Ann supported conservation, birds, those in need of fair and legal representation, Planned Parenthood, food and water security, Adirondack Trust, Lake Champlain Trails, Community Center of Northern Westchester, and St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Bedford. 

The McDuffie family invites remembrances and notes at www.clarkassociatesfuneralhome.com.