Dr. Ann Marie Garvey

Dr. Ann Marie Garvey, 46, of Norwalk, Iowa, passed away Tuesday, November 1, 2022 (All Saint's Day) at Every Step Kavanagh Hospice House in Des Moines, Iowa after a courageous battle with cancer.
Ann Marie Peters was born on March 11, 1976, in Jefferson, Iowa, the daughter of Frank and Judy Peters. She graduated from Webster City High School class of 1994. Ann went on to receive her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa in 1998 and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames, Iowa in 2002. She earned a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Iowa in the practicing veterinarian program in 2003. She began her career as an agriculture specialist and state exercise training officer for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division.
On December 5, 2003, she married Brandon Garvey at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Webster City, Iowa. She went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies (Homeland Security and Defense) from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 2006. She started her dream job with the Iowa Department of Public Health as the State of Iowa Public Health Veterinarian in 2008. She later took on additional roles as Deputy State Epidemiologist and Bureau Chief for the Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology (CADE). She served as the President of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians from 2018-2019. Ann received numerous awards and recognition of achievement in her career. She continued her relationship with the University of Iowa College of Public Health serving as a preceptor for students, and was a guest lecturer in zoonotic disease and intro to public health classes.
To know Ann was to love her. She had the biggest heart and was the kindest, most genuine person you could know. She had the ability to make everyone she came into contact with feel welcome and important. Ann didn't shy away from any opportunity for adventure or fun. She leaves her friends with many fond memories. Ann loved to travel and was the expert vacation planner for her own family and many friends. She loved big dogs especially her Newfoundlands over the years and she helped many friends find their own dogs.
Ann was a very accomplished professional, an amazing colleague and friend, but her greatest achievement was her family. Her daughters Ava Noel and Lillian Sylvia were her pride and joy. She taught them kindness, humility and strength by example. She attended every activity she could over the years and when she couldn't, she lined up family or friends to make sure someone was there in her place to cheer them on. Even when she was too weak to get out of a vehicle, you could find her at her girl's softball games last summer.
Ann battled Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma since the summer of 2018. We'd like to recognize Drs. Dan and Tom Buroker, Dr. Luis Porrata, the staff at Mission Cancer Center, Methodist Hospital Powell 3 staff, and Mayo Hematology and BMT units. Their care and compassion kept us going through this journey. Ann always told them "Do what you want to me, just fix me" as her goal was to get her girls through high school. In her final days, she was supported by the wonderful staff at Every Step Home Hospice and Kavanagh Hospice House.
Ann is preceded in death by her father Frank Peters and her beloved cousin Sgt. Will Moden. She will forever watch over her husband Brandon and cherished daughters Ava and Lillian, mother Judy Peters, sister Jennifer (Christopher) Groos, niece Hannah Groos and nephew Henry Groos, in-laws Roger and LuAnn Garvey, brother-in-law Deacon (Anne) Garvey, nieces Kenzie (Austin) Meyers, Shaylor Garvey, Eastyn Garvey, brother-in-law Aamon Garvey, nieces Avery Garvey, Brinley Garvey, Cassia Garvey, and many more beloved extended family members.
A Celebration Mass for Dr. Ann Garvey, 46, of Norwalk, will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, November 5, 2022 at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Norwalk. Private family inurnment of cremains will be in St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery, Lakefield, MN.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, November 4, 2022 at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church. A rosary will be recited at 7:30 p.m. Friday evening. Memorials may be given in her name to the Norwalk Athletic Booster Club or St. John the Apostle Catholic Church.
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