Elizabeth Ann “Annie” Fielding Fortenberry, 89, of Santa Anna, TX, passed from this life on March 23, 2023 at Bangs Nursing and Rehab, in Bangs, TX. Interment of her ashes will be held at a later date in Oldham County, TX.
Ann was born May 13, 1933, in Middletown, Connecticut, the first of five children, to Henry James “Red” and Adelaide Randall Fielding. She graduated from East Hampton High School in 1951 and enrolled in Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, majoring in creative arts and writing while working summers as a copy editor on a NYC newspaper to pay her way. While in NYC, she met the love of her life, Don Fortenberry. She said one look into those dark brown eyes and she was ready to follow him anywhere – which was the high plains of the Texas panhandle. She loved it, comparing the blowing “prairie” grasses to the waves in her beloved Atlantic Ocean.
Ann embraced farm life and her new family. With the help of both her husband and her father-in-law, she learned to cook the old recipes and to can what they grew in the garden and orchard. She used her copy-editing and typing skills to help build the J.C. Fortenberry family record and her photography skills on the Walcott School yearbooks.
Ann was an avid reader of a vast array of subjects – and a dictionary critic! Her hobbies included the study of Bibles and religions, sketching and painting, and photography, and she loved in-depth discussions with all who shared her interests. She had a special calling and love for people with special needs, the elderly, and the homeless. Her favorite job, aside from being farm wife and mother, was working as a case worker with her shelter family at St. Vincent De Paul place in Middletown, CT. She put her heart into her work and had such a positive impact on people’s lives, but Ann would tell us she received far more than she gave.
As a young girl, Ann attended the Congregational Church. As a young woman in NYC, she found the spiritual home she had been seeking among the Quakers, and in Texas, she continued that practice of spiritual meditation and prayer. She believed in the power of prayer! She loved singing the old Gospel songs whether alone with Don or gathered with friends and family. She loved all time spent with family and friends – and laugh – her laughter could fill a room.
Ann is preceded in death by her parents, her infant brother, Randy Fielding, and her infant daughter, Bonny Fortenberry. She is survived by her former husband and friend, Don Fortenberry of Friona, TX; her daughter Heather (Frank) Mares and her grandson, Cristian Mares, of Santa Anna, TX; her two sisters, Cynthia Fielding of Shirley, MA, and Janice (Owen) Choiniere of East Hampton, CT; and her brother Whitney (Susan) Fielding of East Hampton, CT – and by many nieces, nephews and cousins – all dear to her heart – from the East Coast to Texas.
The family requests any donations in Ann’s memory to be sent to a charity of choice.
