Former long-time Cazenovia, NY resident Anne Estey McDowell died peacefully in her sleep on May 4 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was 92.

She was born Vera Anne Estey on April 24, 1934 in Pompey, NY. She attended school, met her husband of 66 years, and raised her five children in nearby Cazenovia, NY.

Never being fond of her first name, she was known as ‘Annie’ from an early age and throughout high school and college.

After graduating from Cazenovia High School in 1952, she earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Buffalo State Teachers’ College. She enjoyed a 20-year career in teaching in Cazenovia as well as Loveland, Colorado and El Paso, Texas, two places she and her husband lived in retirement.

Like most post-Depression children, Anne learned frugality from an early age out of necessity, not fashion. Spending many of her child-rearing years at home, she became known for crafting and making ends meet through careful saving and by replacing store-bought riches with homemade ones. Vehicles in which she was a driver or passenger exhibited an uncanny inability to pass by garage and yard sales without pulling over. She had a quick wit and enjoyed her childrens’ laughter.

She was a lifelong writer, having been inspired by her mother, Emily Estey, who for many years wrote a column in the Syracuse Post-Standard called “Along the Post Road.” Anne published columns wherever she lived, with names like “My Name Ain’t ‘Darlin’,” a sendup of southern roadside diners where waitresses used that term to address their patrons; “My Turning Point, or How I Finally Quit Smoking,” the story of her lifelong struggle with nicotine addiction and the COPD that made her later years difficult; and “Hurray for Homemade Halloween Costumes,” which told of her love for turning plans from Better Homes and Gardens and Good Housekeeping magazines into one-of-a-kind, DIY costumes that her children sometimes shuddered to wear to school.

Anne was not only a strong, resilient woman, but a quiet rebel. She makes me think of this quote by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, "Well-behaved women seldom make history."

She was a nurturer and protector, managing all the stress that raising five children entailed. She gave her children the gift of her creativity with writing and crafts, raising them to be voracious readers. She had an incomparable listening ear.

In 2015 she published her memoir, “The Way I Remember It,” bringing together a lifetime of writing into one comprehensive look at her early life on the Pompey farm and with her boyfriend since 7th grade, Raymond McDowell. They were married for 66 years until he died on April 10, 2021.

She spent the last four years living with her daughter and son-in-law, April McDowell Klahn and Douglas Klahn, and their daughters, Tiana and Cassidy, at her home in the foothills near Cheyenne, Wyoming.

She is survived by two sisters, Lois Brown (Jim) of Longwood, FL; Myrna Coleman of Portville, NY; and a brother, Elmer E. ‘Stub’ Estey III (Nancy) of Haymarket, VA. She is also survived by her five children, Jennifer Rae Reichert of Orlando, FL; Mark Kevin McDowell (Debbie) of Medford, NJ; Brian Lee McDowell (Margaret) of Hamilton, NY; the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Allen McDowell (Barbara) of Horseheads, NY; and April Lynn McDowell Klahn (Doug) of Cheyenne, WY. Two nieces, Shari Palmer and Denise Dryer, also had close relationships with Anne and Ray McDowell.

Anne also is survived by 11 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

She was predeceased by her husband, Ray; her sister, Mary Patricia ‘Patti’ Estey Modrak; and a grandson, Daniel McDowell.

Graveside services for the family will be held later this year at Evergreen Cemetery in Cazenovia, NY. There will be no calling hours.