Ann Stookey

1952 - 2012

Ann Stookey, 60, of Los Angeles, Calif., died Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Paris, France, following a brief illness. Celebration of life: 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. A second service will be scheduled in Los Angeles at a later date. Memorials: Memorial funds will be established in Ann's name to support the arts of music and floral design in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Born Martha Ann Stookey in Oakland, Calif., on Feb. 2, 1952, to Stephen and Martha Stookey, Ann was raised on Eagle Mountain Lake in Texas. She received her bachelor's degree in communications from North Texas State University and a master's degree from Ohio University, and did doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin. She married her husband, Joe Waz, a retired executive of Comcast Corp. in Rockville, Md., in 1981. They met in 1979 when both were working for the National Citizens Committee for Broadcasting, an organization chaired by Ralph Nader. In 1988, she gave birth to their son, Jack, in Washington, D.C. During her years in the Washington area, Ann worked in various capacities at National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting System and related institutions. She retired to focus on raising her son in 1990 and became involved in numerous volunteer activities. After the family's move to Philadelphia in 1994, Ann became an active gardener and floral designer, winning awards in the Philadelphia Flower Show and becoming an accredited judge of floral design. The "green garden" she created at the family's residence in Chestnut Hill was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer and magazine and online spreads, and has been recorded in the Smithsonian Institution's Archive of American Gardens. Upon her husband's retirement in 2011, the couple moved to the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. An active volunteer, Ann chaired various charitable events at Germantown Friends School and Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, among other institutions. With her husband, she co-chaired the Parents Leadership Council of Emerson College in 2007-08. Ann was a member of the church choirs at Grace Episcopal Church in Silver Spring, Md., St. Paul's Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia and All Saints Beverly Hills in California. She was a member of the Wissahickon Garden Club of Philadelphia, a member of the Philadelphia Aviation Country Club, and a former member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club. She was an avid traveler. Survivors: Husband, Joe Waz; son, Jack Waz, both of Los Angeles; mother, Martha Ann Stookey of Texas; brothers, Steve of Doylestown, Pa., and Robert of Minturn, Colo.; cousin, Diane McDaniel of Allen, Texas; and various nieces and nephews.