Ann Beckstead

1929 - 2021
Ann Beckstead passed away on November 24, 2021, peacefully at home. Born Annetta Therese D'Annibale on February 24, 1929 in New York City, Ann grew up in Bushwick, Brooklyn and attended school in Manhattan at Washington Irving High School where she pursued her love of art. After high school, Ann continued her studies at The Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences (now City Tech) earning a degree in Commercial Art, also taking art classes at Pratt Institute and The Art Students League. After college she entered the commercial art world of 1950s Madison Avenue, working for advertising production studios doing mechanicals, illustrations and design. She soon met the love of her life, George, also an artist, whom she taught to successfully navigate the advertising industry. Over the course of the next two decades, she raised a family as she worked side by side with George art directing his many notable illustrations and layouts for ad campaigns and magazines.

In her late 40s, Ann formally re-entered the commercial art world to join Reader's Digest as an art director, first for the magazine and in later years in their cookbook division working on food styling. Always the art director, Ann inspired her children to pursue creative careers. Her quirky sense of humor, her wealth of funny stories about the Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn where she grew up and her early days in advertising, and her joyful love for her family will be fondly remembered.

Ann is survived by her daughter June, two sons, Ted (Laura) and Jason (Cyndi), and grandchildren, Sabrina, Kyan, and Willa. She was also a beloved aunt to nieces Marianne (Douglas), Judy, Kathy (Dee), and Mary Esther.

Ann is buried at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood, Westbury, NY.