Ann (Baker) Nostwich (1926-2014)

NOSTWICH, BAKER, EWERS, LUNABURG, LOZANO, SARKISSIAN, POLITE, ROUSH, SHOEMAKER, JENKS, LAVER, GREEN

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 11/23/2014 at 13:28:32

Obituary From Adams Soderstrum Funeral Home, Story County, Iowa.

Ann Baker Nostwich, 87, of Ames, IA, died peacefully and unexpectedly on October 28, 2014, while lying in her bed doing a crossword puzzle at Green Hills Retirement Community.

Born November 10, 1926, to John and Margaret (Ewers) Baker in Columbus, Ohio, Ann Elizabeth gave early evidence of her editorial skills when she was certified as a Champion Speller in 1939 while she was a student at St. Patrick School in Columbus. In 1942, she received first place in World History in the Ohio State University District State Scholarship Test. She graduated from South High School, Columbus, in 1944 and received a BS in Journalism from Ohio State University in 1948. She attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she worked at the Institute for Social Research under the direction of Dr. Rensis Likert, famed for the 5-point Likert scale. ("It's pronounced lick-ert as in liquor," he told her, even though the world continues to pronounce it like-ert).

Ann married Theodore Daniel Nostwich on March 21, 1953, in Columbus, OH. They had five children. Besides Columbus, they lived in Big Rapids, MI; Austin, TX; West Lafayette, IN; and Corpus Christi, TX. In 1968 the family, now grown to seven, packed into a VW Bug to come to Ames, where Ann and Ted finally stayed put. In 1995, after 15 years of service, she retired from the Iowa Department of Transportation, where she was a Management Analyst II in the Director's Staff Division.

She enjoyed travels with her family through Europe, the American southwest, and many points in between. As a teenager, she traversed the rolling hills of southern Ohio on a one-speed bike. As a genealogist, she relished visiting cemeteries and county courthouses to uncover the mysteries of her family tree.

She was kind, funny, and outgoing, willing to talk to anyone and everyone. If you worked at a reception desk and someone asked you about the origins of your last name, it was probably her. If you said "lay down" and were corrected with "lie down," it was probably her. She preferred grocery shopping at Fareway because it wasn't as big as other stores, even though it took twice as long to fill her cart because of all the people she'd stop and talk to along the way. She enjoyed the sport of debate with worthy challengers who could match her sharp wit and knowledge of many subjects. She was assessed as having full cognitive function just one month before her passing, a fact of which she was both proud and thankful, having lost far too many loved ones to Alzheimer’s.

Ann was a member of St. Cecilia's Catholic Church. She loved the Catholic faith and attended Mass weekly, even in failing health. As she walked out of the church, she would frequently stop to ask the pastor a probing question, which usually started with "Why...?" Like her husband, she was a spirited follower of Ohio State Buckeye football. With Ann and Ted both passing away this year, things do not bode well for the Michigan Wolverines come November 29!

Ann is survived and will be missed by her five children: Mark Nostwich, Santa Fe, NM; Paul Nostwich, Fort Bragg, CA; Michael Nostwich (Darla), Ames; Elisabeth Nostwich Lunaburg (David), Ames; and Sarah ("Sallie") Nostwich, Ames; five grandchildren, Samantha Nostwich, Tulare, CA; Nicole Lozano (Timothy), West Plains, MO; Aaron Nostwich, Ames; Joseph Lunaburg, Ames; and Thomas Lunaburg, Ames; three great-granddaughters, Hailie Sarkissian, Tulare, CA; and Jamie and Kayla Lozano, West Plains, MO; and cousins, Gordon Ewers, Mars, PA (and his children Todd Ewers, Lauren Ewers Polite, and Doug Ewers); Joellen (DeLloyd) Roush, Columbus, OH; and Tacy A. Shoemaker Lewis (Stan), Peyton, CO. Also surviving are her brother, Richard Eugene Baker (Dorothy), Canal Winchester, OH; nieces, Jennifer Baker Jenks, Columbus, OH; Carolyn Baker Laver, Alexandria, VA; and Kathleen Baker Green, Columbus, OH. Many dear friends, locally, nationally, and internationally will feel her loss, as will Scamper, her ever-faithful blind dog and ever-willing accomplice in napping.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her nephew, John (Jack) Patrick Baker, and her devoted husband, Theodore Daniel Nostwich, who died on April 1, 2014.

Visitation will be from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 6, at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Ames. A Mass of Christian burial will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, November 7, at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church, followed by inurnment at the Iowa State University cemetery. Afterwards, a luncheon will be served at St. Cecilia's.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be designated to the Ann Nostwich Memorial Fund to benefit organizations of the family's choice and mailed in care of Adams Funeral Home, 502 Douglas Avenue, Ames, Iowa 50010.

http://www.adamssoderstrum.com/
 

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