Ann Albright Daniels

Ann Albright DanielsAnn died peacefully on December 10, 2012 at Emeritus Palm Court on Hilton Head. She is survived by husband Horst "Dan" Daniels (Hilton Head Island, SC), brother Charles Albright MD (Tyler, TX) , and son's Bryan (Winnetka, IL), Steve (Detroit, MI) and John (San Diego, CA). She was also the proud grandmother of four boys and two girls, ranging in ages from nine to twenty-three. Ann was born March 31, 1934 in Portsmouth Ohio. The family moved to Bucyrus Ohio in 1936, where her father had assumed a new position as Manager of the Ohio Power Company. Ann attended school in Bucyrus, graduating in 1952 as valedictorian from Bucyrus High School. At that time, not many fellow graduates went onto college, particularly women. She bucked that trend, continuing her education at Miami University in Oxford Ohio, majoring in English. After graduating with honors in 1956, she spent the summer working for J. Walter Thompson Advertising in New York, with plans of returning to Miami University in the fall to teach Freshman English. But fate intervened and she reconnected with her college sweetheart Dan, who had also started working in New York after graduate school. One thing led to another and they were married in Bucyrus, Ohio in December 1957. The newlyweds moved to Mexico City in 1958, where her husband started his international business career. This was the beginning of a string of overseas assignments. After 4 years in Mexico, the family moved to Germany and Brazil, finally settling in Indianapolis Indiana in 1972 . Along the way their family had grown to five, with two sons born in Mexico and one in Germany. Once the family settled down, Ann pursued her higher education, receiving a Masters Degree in Library Science from Butler University. She joined Carmel High School, where she ultimately became the Director of the Media Center. While at the Carmel High School Library, she was a true pioneer in bringing computers, and later the Internet, to the public school system. Before Google even existed, she was helping students conduct online research. She also worked on projects to network together the school and public libraries. She presented her work at both State and National Library conventions and served as President of the Association of Indiana Media Educators (A.I.M.E.). Ann retired from Carmel High School in 1993, moved to Hilton Head, and built their retirement home in Hilton Head Plantation. Though she may have been retired, she sustained her interest in computer related technologies. She became expert in the use of computers for the creation of newsletters and desktop publishing. While the newsletters of the day were usually created in a very laborious process, she used her computer skill to design professional quality newsletters for the various organizations with which she was actively involved. This included the Orchestra League, Friends of the Library, Genealogy Society, Audubon Society, amongst others. She also taught others these valuable computer skills. Throughout her life, Ann had a green thumb, maintaining a garden wherever she lived. Whether it was a small vegetable patch in her backyard in Germany, or a large plot in the Hilton Head Plantation Farmers Club, she would always have fresh vegetables on hand. In addition to being very active in the Hilton Head community, Ann took advantage of retirement and together with her husband travelled extensively throughout the world - both independently and with groups. Highlights included various European, Amazon and Asian river cruises, sailing around Cape Horn, South America, New Zealand, and visits to her expatriate sons residing in China, Japan and France. The travel bug was passed onto her children as well, who have all travelled extensively throughout the world. Ann kept herself busy with a variety of interests. She was a member of the Audubon Society, participating in the annual migratory bird counts, going on many birding trips and creating the local newsletter. Throughout her life, she had amassed almost a thousand bird sightings, as recorded in her bird watchers life list. Genealogy was also a passion, which required a tremendous amount of dedication and persistence. She was instrumental in tracing the family tree through multiple generations, back to the Revolutionary War, then across the ocean to cemeteries in Germany. One of her favorite "vacations" was to spend a week in the Mormon Family Library in Salt Lake City while the rest of the family hit the ski slopes. However, when asked what her hobbies were, she would inevitably say, "Reading is my hobby". She was a voracious reader, never far from a book. She passed this passion along to her sons and grandchildren. Ann was key in keeping the family together, which was a challenge since her sons moved to disparate locations in order to pursue their own careers and families. Holidays were a great opportunity to get everyone together, whether the meeting place was in Hilton Head or some other location. A memorial service will be held at Hilton Head First Presbyterian Church on Saturday January, 19 2013 at 3 PM. Please make any contribution to Memory Matters P.O. Box 22330 Hilton Head SC 29926. The Island Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. www.theislandfuneralhome.com.