Ann Gist Levin

1928 - 2011

Ann Gist Levin, 83, of Ventura, a decades-long volunteer and community activist, a lover of small children who turned that passion into a career, and an adventure traveler who sought out rare solar eclipses, died at her home on Feb. 9, 2011, after a brief battle with cancer.

Ann was an active member of the League of Women Voters of Ventura County and other groups, assisting in the study of welfare laws and land use, among other issues. In recent years, she was a fervent opponent of plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in nearby coastal waters.

Ann Elizabeth Gist was born on Jan. 23, 1928, in Petersburg, W.V. Her parents, Samuel and Virginia Gist, moved the family to Pomona, Calif., in 1929. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where she met her future husband, Burt Levin. She worked briefly as a teacher, leaving to raise her four children. Ann and her family moved to Ventura in 1969. Her life as a mother, occasional community volunteer and a budding student of education changed dramatically with the sudden death of Burt in a 1973 boating accident.

Searching for a new career to support her children and inspired by a recent trip across country, she applied and won admission to Harvard University. In 1976, she was awarded a master's degree in education. That year of study led her to settle permanently in Brookline, Mass., near Boston, from 1979 to 1996, where she became an early childhood development specialist. Ann moved back to Ventura after retirement to be near her first two grandchildren.

With more free time, she embraced her passions for volunteering and travel. She helped lead League of Women Voters studies of Ventura County's welfare-to-work program and affordable housing, and spent years assisting voter-education programs. She was also active in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura. Ann had already become a seasoned traveler, visiting Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. Retirement allowed her to reach even more exotic destinations, including Antarctica. She also indulged her fascination with astronomy. She viewed several solar eclipses, including Zambia in 2001 and Peru in 1994.

She is survived by her children, Alan, of Washington, D.C., Betsy, of San Francisco, John, of Ventura, and Sarah, of Springfield, Va., and their spouses. She is also survived by her brother, Richard Gist, of Sacramento, and sister, Virginia Abblitt, of San Diego, and her four grandchildren, Dewi, Deanna, Sovann, and Xavier.

A memorial service will be held at Poinsettia Pavilion on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers , donations may be made to The Children's Defense Fund, League of Women Voters of Ventura County or the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura.