Anne D. Schalet Timoner's Obituary
Anne D. Schalet Timoner, age 86, of The Villages Florida, passed away on February 29, 2024 after her battle with cancer. She died peacefully at Cornerstone Hospice surrounded by family.
Anne was born on July 10 in 1937 in New Haven Connecticut to Cornelia Campbell Day and Huntington Townsend Day, the youngest daughter, after her older sisters Molly and Lee. Growing up, Anne’s nanny Bessie Smith played an important and loving role in her life. Anne sustained a warm relationship with Bessie and her family until Bessie passed in the early 2000s.
Anne and her sister Lee attended Foote Middle School in New Haven. One of her teachers there was Margaret Hitchcock, a strict but beloved and influential English teacher. “Hitchie”, as she was known, sparked Anne’s love of writing and correct grammar. Anne often recounted how she was fond of climbing trees and riding horses with her sister Lee during this time. After Foote, she attended a boarding school for girls, Emma Willard, in Troy, New York. She went on to study classics (great books) at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later earned a BA in literature from the University of Connecticut in Storrs.
At UConn, she met her husband Abraham P. Schalet, later fondly recounting Abe’s joy de vivre that attracted her to him. Anne and Abe had two children, Amy born in 1968, and Benjamin born in 1972. In 1970, Anne moved with her family to the Netherlands, where Abe worked as a geneticist at the Universiteit Leiden until their return to the US in 1987. After Abe passed away in 1997, Anne met Dr Julian Timoner, a chiropractic physician from Branford Connecticut, who, like Anne, was recently widowed. Julian became her loving and devoted husband. Together the couple built a life rich with community engagement, time with their six grandchildren, and travel.
Anne’s life passion was dance. In the Netherlands, she studied under Felix White, an African American choreographer who founded the Black Vibration Dance Theater in Amsterdam. Anne started her own dance studio, from her home in Leiden, in 1980, where she taught jazz dance to adult women. Once back in the US in the 90s, she taught jazzercize for several years in New Haven to English and Spanish-Speaking women. After moving with Julian to the Villages in Florida, Anne taught performing arts to children and judged dance competitions for the Young Performing Artists program based in Royal, one of Florida’s oldest African-American communities. Anne remained a vigorous dancer until the summer before she became ill, effortlessly completing a one and a half hour masterclass at Jacob’s Pillow at the age of 86.
Throughout her life, Anne felt a great affinity and kinship with African-American culture, which she attributed to her close relationship with her nanny Bessie. Anne was also a strong supporter for civil rights, such as voting rights, the preservation of historic African-American communities, and truth and reconciliation. She worked tirelessly on behalf Democratic candidates and issues, mobilizing voters, spearheading protests, and co-directed a symposium on race in America.
Although raised in the Congregational Church, Anne was moved and inspired by the religious and cultural traditions of Judaism, in which both her husbands had been raised; she converted to Judaism around 1998. She was an active member of Mishkin Israel in Connecticut and Temple Shalom in the Villages.
Family and friends will remember Anne for her unbridled passion, activism, artistry, theatricality, unique insights, affection, creativity, and fun. They treasure the time they had with her. Our hearts ache; she will always be with us!
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Young Performing Artists, Inc. https://youngperformingartists.org/
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