Annie Dellert Raskin

1944 - 2020

Annie (Lois) Dellert Raskin, an English professor, poet, and former psychiatric nurse, died on July 12 of Alzheimer's disease at Maple Ridge Memory Care in Essex Junction, VT. She was 75.

Annie was born on October 5, 1944, in Phoenix, AZ, to Jean Isabel Traquair of Melrose, MA, and W. David Dellert, Jr. of Pittsfield, MA. Annie spent the first years of her childhood on a farm in Southington, CT. The freedom and animals she found on the farm held a mythical place in her memory, and she would return to those themes often in her poetry. Connecticut is also where Annie's brothers Peter Folger Dellert and William (Bill) David Dellert, III were born. Annie's family then moved to Gardiner, ME. in 1953, and she graduated from Gardiner High School in 1962.

Annie attended nursing school at Northeastern University and Massachusetts General Hospital. There she specialized in psychiatric nursing, which appealed to her intellectual curiosity and empathetic nature. She lived in Boston for many years, where she drove a beloved yellow Volkswagen "bug," followed the local folk music scene, and worked as a nurse, including at McClain Hospital in Belmont, MA, and a South Boston methadone clinic. In 1971, she took a solo trip across Europe-a leap of faith and independence that was a lifelong source of pride.

After returning from Europe, Annie moved to Pittsfield, MA, to renovate and live in the house her paternal grandfather built. While working at Berkshire Mental Health Center she met David Raskin, a psychiatrist. The two shared a love of Pittsfield, jazz music, New York City, art, and literature. Annie fell in love with David as well as his two children, Adam and Rebecca, and the two were married on Cape Cod in 1976. They moved briefly to Brunswick, ME, where their daughter Laura Katherine Dellert Raskin was born in 1981. They returned to Pittsfield in 1983, where David ultimately became the director of Berkshire Medical Center's psychiatric intensive care unit.

After many years as a nurse, Annie then turned her skills as an intuitive and gifted baker and cook into a successful home catering business. She had a great eye for curating and collecting and later opened an antique business that sold mid-20th-century kitchenware. A lifelong scholar and writer, Annie ultimately returned to school, earning her B.A. from Skidmore College's "University's Without Walls" program in 1990, followed by a Master's and PhD. in English from SUNY Albany in 2004. Along the way she lost her stepson Adam, in 1994, to leukemia, and then David, in 2000, to cancer.

Annie spent the last nearly 15 years of her life in North Bennington, VT, where she lovingly restored an old farmhouse. She commuted to North Adams, MA, where she taught for over 10 years in the English department at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Her courses included those on English literature, 19th century American women regionalist writers, and women's studies. She also developed an innovative curriculum on the graphic novel. Annie shone as a teacher-it was her true calling-and she used her mental health background to connect and listen to students, particularly those who struggled with self-confidence and self-expression. She embraced North Bennington, holding her own poetry readings at the library, taking long walks on the Bennington College campus, baking for neighbors, and befriending many.

Annie sought a deep understanding of herself and those she knew and loved. She listened and reflected without judgment, and always had time for long stories about work, life, and love. Above all, she was an adoring daughter, mother, stepmother, grandmother, sister, and friend.

Long before her diagnosis, Annie worried about inheriting Alzheimer's from her father, whom she watched die of the disease, and she never fully accepted its debilitating impact on her life. Her last years were difficult and heartbreaking, as she lost her shining intellect and meticulous executive functioning. But despite the relentlessness of the disease, Annie maintained until the end her elegance, dignity, and independent spirit. She met, held, and loved her first grandchild, Vera Raskin Eklund, born just two days after her own birthday on October 7, 2019.

In addition to Vera, Annie leaves her daughter Laura Raskin and her son-in-law Andrew Eklund of Brooklyn, NY; her step-daughter Rebecca Raskin and Rebecca's family-Chip Mason, Amelia Raskin Mason, and Ella Raskin Mason of Burlington, VT; and her brothers Peter Dellert, of Holyoke, MA, and William (Bill) David Dellert, III, of Gardiner, ME. Annie's daughter Laura would welcome correspondence at laura.raskin@gmail.com, and contributions would be welcome in Annie's honor to the John G. McCullough Free Library in North Bennington, VT. https://mcculloughlibrary.org/