CHRISTINE ELIZABETH "CHRIS" AMMER

1931 - 2025

AMMER, Christine "Chris" Elizabeth (Parker) Christine passed away peacefully, at home, in Lexington, Massachusetts, on Friday, January 31, 2025, aged 93. She is survived by her daughter, Karen Ann Ammer, of Los Altos Hills, California, son-in-law, David Mark Spector; and their daughters, Lauren Elizabeth Spector and Emily Helene Spector; her son, John Matthew Ammer, of Vienna, Virginia, daughter-in-law, Patrice T. Robitaille; and their sons, Brian Dean Ammer and Paul David Ammer; and her son, David Scott Ammer, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, daughter-in-law Nell K. Duke; and their children, Julia Lane Ammer and Cooper Davidson Duke. Chris was preceded in death by her husband of 39 years, Dean Sherwood Ammer, originally of Tecumseh, Michigan; and by her parents, Herbert Henry Parker (formerly Pollak) and Helene Reitmann Parker (formerly Pollak), (Reitmann), of Forest Hills, New York. Chris was born in Vienna, Austria, on May 25, 1931, and named Christa Lisbeth Emilie Angelika Pollak. Fearing persecution by the NSDAP regime, the family immigrated to New York City in 1938 and changed their surname from Pollak to Parker. Chris graduated from Forest Hills High School in 1948 with a keen interest in literature, journalism and classical music. She then attended Denison University (OH), before transferring to Swarthmore College (PA) and graduating as an English major with high honors in 1952. She subsequently lived, worked and traveled throughout Europe and Africa for several years, including a stint with Radio Free Europe, before returning to New York for work on The Cultural Library set of encyclopedias. During that time, she met her future husband, Dean, at a card game, with their first date at the 1959 U.S. National Lawn Tennis Championship in Forest Hills, a non-coincidental combination of two of her lifelong interests, bridge and tennis. Motherhood soon followed, with concurrent pursuit of a writing career that spanned five decades and included publication of more than three dozen reference books on a wide array of topics, including "The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms," "Have a Nice Day," "No Problem: A Dictionary of Cliches," "The A to Z of Investing," "The Encyclopedia of Women's Health" and "Unsung: A History of Women in American Music". She served for many years as a National Writers' Union representative and as a contributing journalist to Military History Quarterly. Chris was an avid traveler, hiker on six continents, contract bridge player (achieving the rank of Regional Master), daily swimmer, reader, cruciverbalist, chorister and concert goer. Donations in Chris' memory can be made to Doctors Without Borders, Planned Parenthood, Swarthmore College or to any organization promoting live performance of classical music, especially those which highlight female composers.