It is with great sadness that we share the news that Ann Vermel – one of Creating the Future’s original fellows, supporters, and practitioners of Catlytic Thinking – has shuffled off this mortal coil (in her own words, or technically, in Shakespeare’s), leaving behind so many people whose lives she touched. She was just a few days shy of 94.
Ann was an adventurer of the spirit, the intellect, the parts of humanity that make us glorious. She was 78 when she joined one of our earliest Catalytic Thinking cohorts, announcing, “I’m ready for my next transformation.” Always eager for what’s next, always eager to learn, to grow, to become. That was our friend Ann.
Ann was funny and erudite, wise and silly. She lived a life most of us can only dream about. Opera singer. Actor. Writer. Arts activist. Storyteller.
And oh those stories, all told so matter-of-factly. “Then James Dean walked in, asking me about…” or “That’s what Ursula LeGuin would tell me” or “That was back when I ran the Pickle Family Circus.” From Carnegie Hall to social justice efforts in her beloved Fresno, California. Ann was a passionate warrior for all she believed in. And there was always a story to tell.
Even in her final years, Ann was writing that story, falling deeply in love at an age when most of us think that is impossible. She had brushed off Jonathan Farwell when she was college-aged, only to find him in another part of the world, at another stage of life, at almost 90. Most of us can only dream of finding that kind of love at any age. Ann and Jonathan perhaps found it when it mattered most. It was another story Ann would tell, each time with a different angle, a new flourish.
The arts meant everything to Ann. In her 80’s she was inspired to develop and then direct a Readers Theater troupe at Fresno’s community theater. There she staged plays, often calling on her love of Dylan Thomas – Under Milk Wood, and her favorite, A Child’s Christmas in Wales. In her final few weeks, she told me that she hoped to produce one more rendition of that holiday poem, at the hospice where she was living. That was the unstoppable force that was Ann.
I met Ann when she was leading the United Way in Fresno 20 years ago. Whenever I would visit, Ann would gather local changemakers, hosting workshops and community conversations about what it would take to make Fresno the thriving, healthy place they all wanted to live. When she turned to consulting, Ann took every opportunity to bring Catalytic Thinking into her work. And when she had big decisions to make, she would proudly tell me how those powerful questions had guided her.
It wasn’t just her work, though. She brought those questions into every aspect of her life. Towards the end, as she needed caregivers, Catalytic Thinking followed her there, too. She loved to listen for the best in each of those individuals as they navigated their own lives, inserting a poignant question that would lead them to their potential. Her step-daughter tells me that Ann often did the same for the professional quandaries she would bring to her – listening, suggesting questions that might help her navigate those rocky roads.
Personally, I will miss my friend. I know many of Creating the Future’s fellows will miss Ann as well. She never shrank from a juicy conversation, joining our board meetings and team meetings, always with a perspective we hadn’t considered and a story to tell. If there were 20 more lifetimes, Ann would still not be done with all she hoped to do and be and read, and especially to learn. And we all benefited from that.
With this post, therefore, I am celebrating while I am grieving. I feel so fortunate to have had Ann in my life, and to have had Creating the Future’s work mean so much to her. I know there are things that will happen in my own life, where my first thought will be, “I must share this with Ann.”
And I will do so, quietly. I know she’ll be listening, celebrating whatever little thing it is. And I know she’ll be ready with a story.
If you would like to honor Ann, her family has asked that you donate to an arts organization in your community. If you listen carefully, you might just hear that former Opera singer’s voice in thanks.