Anne Supple

Anne Moss Supple



Anne Supple

passed away in her sleep a month shy of her 91st birthday. She grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, and met her husband Dick at Purdue University. Anne was a swimmer and lifelong Kappa while Dick was a tennis player and Phi Gamma Delta.

A mechanical engineer position was available in 1960 and Anne convinced Dick to take a chance and move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. They built a house in the far northeast heights off of Louisiana and south of Montgomery with no houses or trees looking towards the Sandias.

Five active kids was Anne's full-time job and she was involved with everything in the community, but her passion for swimming started at the A pool and ultimately shaped her career as an official for local swimming events. She never stopped and ultimately grew into USA swimming.

Anne was the first all-American woman swimmer and a one-time American record holder for distance swimming events but was denied her chance to participate in the 1948 Olympics in London, the first games since Berlin in 1936, because distance events for women were not yet an Olympic event at that time. Anne traveled with many USA teams around the world and was the female chaperone for the 1972 Olympic team in Munich and one of the meet referees for the 1980 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Even though Anne was still upset at missing the 1948 Games, she relished marching in two opening ceremonies.

Her infectious enthusiasm for the outdoors became apparent when they built a solar house in Angel Fire and eventually retired to that community around the turn of the century. Daily hikes with her golden retrievers and volunteering at the library and other local projects provided the perfect environment for her love of people and life.

Her five children and ten grandchildren survive Anne: Bobby and Sue with Monet and Michaela, Audrey and Martin; Woody and Cheryl with Ian, Molly, and Kevin; Rick and Kathy with Megan and Jordan; Jeff and Jessica with Sarah, Madison, and Brittany.

A Celebration of Life event will take place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Details will be announced.