Anne LARCOM

Family-Placed Death Notice

LARCOM, Anne Anne Stringer Larcom, loving wife, devoted mother, aunt, and grandmother passed away July 18, 2013 at the age of 81. Anne Larcom loved her family with all her heart and her idea of family extended well beyond the confines of bloodlines. Once you were Anne's, you were Anne's forever. She grew up on a farm in South Georgia and learned quickly how to get the most out of everything - food, clothes, a dollar. She was a master shopper and combined coupons in ways that dazzled her daughters, confused store clerks, and made her husband smile. She met her husband in Bainbridge, GA. He moved there from St. Louis after serving in WWII. Anne's father wasn't so sure about her marrying a "Yankee", but 60 years later it seems she made a wise choice. She married Chuck Larcom August 15, 1953 - a month shy of his 30th birthday. He preferred to wait until the fall, but that would mean marrying a 30-year-old man. Anne graduated Valedictorian of Ochlochnee High School in South Georgia. She waited to finish a college degree until her youngest daughter went off to school. Then she embraced it fully, graduating from Georgia State University with a degree in Art History and a Master's in Historic Preservation. She even joined a sorority. Mu Rho Sigma, a sorority for married women, became her home on campus and a sisterhood she enjoyed for the rest of her life. She loved words and storytelling and was in many ways our family's first journalist, keeping relatives up to date on all the latest family news. She wrote beautiful, touching thank you notes that made you feel you'd done something very special. The obituaries and eulogies she wrote always offered the greatest tribute to the loved one being remembered. She wrote and published a number of historical accounts: the history of East Point where they lived for many years, the history of Ft. McPherson and the history of Mu Rho Sigma. Perhaps her most cherished work was a history of her grandfather. She collaborated on this with her cousin Bill Stringer and her daughter Mindy. Her banana pudding is unmatched. The same can be said of her "turkey bone" soup, potato salad and cornbread dressing, the recipe for which is titled "Mom's Very Good Turkey Dressing." She loved music and had a beautiful voice. She was a longtime Atlanta Symphony patron. She was very proud to sing in the Roswell UMC Prime Time Singers, but she also sang in the kitchen, the garden and pretty much anywhere she happened to be. Anne's passion for gardening served as a cherished gift for all - neighbors lucky enough to stroll by her beautiful roses, friends she often shared arrangements with and church members who benefited from her role in the Altar Guild. A lifelong learner she was interested in most everything and traveled the world making friends everywhere she went. She set a high bar for her children and the young people she mentored and usually got the most out of people. She knew when to push and when to hug. Sometimes the push seemed more than you could handle, but the hug was always worth it in the end. You always knew where you stood with Anne. She was among a minority of women of her generation who thought her opinion mattered and should be counted. In that way she served as a role model for so many young women lucky enough to have been loved and mentored by her. She knew the name of every person and every dog in her neighborhood and often a great number of things going on in their lives. She is survived by her husband, Chuck Larcom; three daughters, Kay Larcom of Washington D.C., Ivy Peterson of Tampa, FL and Mindy Larcom of Atlanta, GA; her son-in-law Dale Peterson; two grandchildren, Suzanne Peterson and Cole Peterson; Trond Sefastsson and Karin Nord her Swedish children; Francesca Bennati and Antonio Filippini her Italian children and a host of nieces, nephews and young friends who loved her dearly. The celebration of Anne Larcom's life will be held Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 2 p.m. at Roswell United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Roswell UMC Altar Guild flower fund.