Anne Elizabeth "Nubby" Maple

Northfield - Maple, Anne Elizabeth ("Nubby") passed away quietly on April 28, 2023, 65 years after starting her life in Deephaven, MN. A bright soul always game for adventure, she threw herself into theater and dance (leading the Minnetonka Skipperettes to a half-time performance during a 1974 Vikings game in Met Stadium) before turning her attention in college to literature and education. A beloved teacher, Anne inspired generations of middle- and high-schoolers in Osseo, MN; Edgerton, WI; San Antonio, TX; and finally at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, MN, before concluding her career with two terms on the schoolboard in Northfield, MN, where she lived with her family for thirty years. Remembered as a dedicated mother, daughter, sibling, friend, and partner-in-life, she rolled with life's challenges, uprooting and replanting her family for multiple stays in France, where she taught English, learned French, founded a book club, and enjoyed the fruits of life. Anne created bonds with others wherever she went. Endowed with a keen moral compass, she campaigned for multiple causes she hoped would lead to better lives and communities. She inspired others. Though a life can never be reduced to the atoms of one's existence, it's worth remembering the small pleasures she cherished: friends and family, Oreo cookies, agates, birds (both large and small), cats, the natural world, a good story (especially Dickens), water in all its forms (especially lakes), morning coffee, evening wine, day lilies, theater (especially musicals), chocolate, nice shoes, the sun, the smell of babies, the sound of children laughing in the distance, the color blue, a slightly goofy joke. What she did not enjoy: mosquitoes. Downed by the scourge of Alzheimer's Disease, Anne was preceded in death by mother (Barbara) and father (Tom). She is survived by her husband Scott Carpenter, son Paul Carpenter (Tammy), daughter Muriel Carpenter (Justin), sister Kate (William), sister Margaret "Miggs" (Mark), sister Nancy Ellsworth (Tom), and brother Tom (Kaylen). Memorial service to be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 6 at the First United Church of Christ in Northfield, MN. In lieu of flowers, donations to support residents and staff of Breck Home (https://www.houldingonlettinggo.org/), or to Minnesota Public Radio.