Ann was born on May 2 1950 in Centreville, New Brunswick. Her mother, Jean Woodage, was an English war bride. Her father, Claude Hovey, a member of the First Special Service Force, came from a large New Brunswick family with New England roots. They raised a family of four boys and Ann, the second youngest. Ann stayed close to her family, keeping in touch with her siblings and visiting her parents in New Brunswick regularly despite distances.

Ann married Peter Vander Sar who she met at the Computing Centre at the University of New Brunswick as she was the only one who could decipher his handwriting. Peter’s work with IBM sent them to Edmonton, San Jose, Vancouver, then to Calgary. After Peter’s retirement in 1999 they moved to their rural property in Mara.

Ann had many skills and interests: from making wine, stained glass, and decorative painting to sewing and canning, cooking, and baking, always taking courses to advance her knowledge. In Calgary, she took up golf, becoming quite good at it, playing ladies’ night at the Birchdale golf course in Grindrod for many years. Ann’s green thumb enabled her to grow African violets, orchids, herbs, and many kinds of flowers and vegetables.

Peter and Ann liked to travel, preferably by train, and did so in Canada, the US, Mexico, England, and Europe. They camped from the Yukon to Newfoundland and in 2000 bought an RV and an RV lot in a small golf development in Texas, spending most of the following twenty winters there.

“Live, love, laugh and be happy” summarizes Ann’s positive outlook on people and life in general, She shared it, and laughed, with fellow volunteers at the Enderby Lions, the Enderby Legion, and the Mara Community group, and with golf partners everywhere. Relatives and friends and their children have called her “a special lady” and remember her intelligence, dry sense of humour and wit, her caring, and ability to prepare wonderful meals for six or eight without much fuss or bother.

Ann died on October 9, 2025, not long after her 75 th birthday, of complication from brain and spinal cancer. She is sorely missed by her husband of nearly 53 years, brothers Mike, Dave, and Terry, brother Tony having predeceased her, by brothers-in-law Hank and Gord, sister-in-law Agnes, and their families. She was “Auntie Ann” to four nephews and was considered part of the family by many friends and their children. She is missed by all with whom she shared a laugh.

Ann’s remains have been cremated. Her ashes will be scattered in our garden here in British Columbia and on the seashore in New Brunswick that she liked to visit with her mother.

Peter

Arrangements entrusted to

Cypress Funeral & Cremation Services 250-546-7237

Condolences may be expressed to the family by phone or email through Cypress Funeral & Cremation Services: