Anne Strong

Strong, Anne M., 68, a 40-year resident of Cambridge, died on April 4 following a courageous battle with lung cancer. She leaves behind her husband of 17 years, Charlie Allen; their daughter, Gwei Gwei Strong-Allen; two sons, Brian Jones of NY and Dylan Jones of Boston; and two step-children, Chip Allen of Somerville and Mary Allen of Cambridge and her daughter Mariana Mayes. Anne is also survived by her siblings Mary Tilghman and Selina Strong of CT; Sylvia Brooks of the Netherlands; and John Brooks of RI. Anne dedicated her life to her family, community, and career. For the last 2 decades she worked tirelessly to create equal opportunities for inner-city girls to participate in athletics, particularly soccer. She was one of the founders of Cambridge Youth Soccer in the early 80s and was a CYS Board member up until her death. She coached Cambridge town and travel teams for years, and the City of Cambridge is honoring her with a bench in her name at Danehy Park. Anne was a graduate of Smith College (BA, MA) and Suffolk University Law School. She devoted the early years of her legal career to public service, serving as both the Affirmative Action Officer and the Rent Control Hearing Board Officer for the City of Cambridge. She then transitioned to private practice, which she gave up in 1999 when she founded CityKicks, a program that brought the first after school soccer league to Boston middle school girls in underserved communities. After 10 years as Executive Director, she merged City Kicks with New England Scores. She was Director of Programming there until retiring in 2012. Her passion in promoting the positive value of team sports, particularly in the ability to empower young women and engender self-esteem, was recognized with a 2002 Pathfinder Award from the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She was also the recipient of the Germaine Lawrence Women of Excellence award, and a Heroes Among Us Award at a Boston Celtics game. It can be said that her true reward was the hundreds of young girls lives she touched. Up until 6 months ago, Anne played in her own senior womens soccer leagues, was an avid sailor and skier and enjoyed the outdoors. Anne was also a true Foodie; many have enjoyed her wonderful meals and hospitality. Her energy and passion for family, friends and girls athletics will be sorely missed. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday, May 4 at 4:00 PM at St. Jamess Episcopal Church, 1991 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA. In lieu of flowers please send contributions to the Strong Girls Fund, online at http://americascoresboston.org/annestrong/ or by sending a check payable to "America SCORES Boston/SGF" to America SCORES Boston, 29 Germania Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. On line guest book at www.brownandhickey.com