Anna Lawell Obituary

Anna T. Lawell (nee Torrente) of Narragansett, Rhode Island, passed away May 5, 2023 after a brief illness. Philip, her loving husband of nearly 54 years, was by her side. Unable are the Loved to dieFor Love is Immortality,Nay, it is Deity--Unable they that love--to dieFor Love reforms VitalityInto Divinity. Emily Dickinson [1830-1886], American poetAnn was born, April 11, 1945, to Anna (nee Moar) and Manny Torrente and lived her early childhood years in Greenwich Village, NYC. With her parents she moved to Connecticut during her elementary school years. She met Phil to whom she would marry on the first day of summer 1969. For a time she and Phil would reside in Connecticut, on the West Coast and in Rome, Italy. Returning home to Connecticut, Ann took a position with the State of Connecticut. She was the Assistant to the Chief Public Defender, State of Connecticut, at the time of her retirement after 18 years of service with the state. Ann and Phil, both retired, moved to Narragansett to be by the sea. Ann often volunteered her time, particularly to work with young people with Down syndrome. She liked to travel with her husband and would ultimately visit the seven continents and complete eight trips around the world. Ann was an avid reader and was keenly interested in basketball. She broadly followed the teams and players of the NBA and the NCAA, but favored the Boston Celtics and the UConn Huskies. She did cherish the letter she received from Coach K (Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University Blue Devils) whom she admired as an outstanding coach and inspirational leader. In mid-life Ann was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS). She courageously faced the diagnosis of PPMS with its unrelenting debilitating progression without bitterness, never complaining. She would say "why not me" or "it could be something worse. " Distinguished by her fortitude, she was loved, admired and inspired everyone who met her. Hope imbued her heart and soul and she favored a stanza from another Dickinson poem:Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soulAnd sings a song without the wordsAnd never stops at all. . . Ann is survived by her husband, Phil; a sister Margaret Sywak (Roman); nine nephews and nieces; and 19 grand nephews and grand nieces. Ann is preceded in death by her parents, a niece and a nephew. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday morning, May 17, 2023, at 10:30 am in St. Mary Star of the Sea, 864 Point Judith Rd, Narragansett, Reverend Francis P. Kayatta officiating. A Mass of Christian Burial will also be celebrated at a later date at St. Lawrence Church in Muncie, IN with a burial to follow in Beech Grove Cemetery, Muncie. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to South County Health (South County Hospital), 100 Kenyon Ave. , Wakefield, RI 02879 or HopeHealth and Palliative Care, (HopeHealthCo. org/memorialgiving).