Ann O. Hamilton

1936 - 2022

Hamilton

Ann O. Hamilton

Ann O. Hamilton died at home on November 28, 2022, at the age of 85. A dedicated mother and Nana, Ann was known for her humor, advocacy, and friendship. Professionally, she had a distinguished career as an economist at the World Bank, the Peace Corps, the War on Poverty, and the Bureau of the Budget. She went on to earn her law degree and to become a neighborhood activist. Ann is survived by her sister, Jill Chwal; her three children: Vicky Marchand, Dan Hamilton, and Rachel Hamilton; and her four grandchildren: Ernie, Josh, and Alex Marchand, and Oliver Hamilton.

Ann was born in San Antonio, Texas, on December 30, 1936, to Dan Oppenheimer and Miriam (Mimi) Rabe Oppenheimer. Mimi died in 1937 from a lung infection only shortly before penicillin was widely available. Raised by her father and doting grandmothers, when she was eight years old her father married Gloria Rosenthal Oppenheimer who brought her a sister, Jill. Ann attended St. Mary's Hall in San Antonio and the St. Stephen's School in Austin, TX. She graduated with High Honors in Economics from Wellesley College in 1958 and with a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1961. That same year, when President Kennedy called on Americans to serve their country, Ann moved to Washington, DC where she joined a small group to help create the Peace Corps, working on the establishing legislation and on presentations before Congress. Three years later, in 1964, she followed Sargent Shriver as part of the President's Task Force on the War on Poverty. She then went to the Bureau of the Budget where she worked on foreign aid programs around the world, particularly in South Asia. While at the Budget Bureau, she married Edward K. Hamilton and had three children. They divorced several years later.

In 1970, she joined the World Bank, where she spent the next 27 years. She became Division Chief for India. She went on to be Director of Population and Human Resources — one of the first women at that level at the World Bank. There, she worked on issues related to population planning, women in development, and equality of educational opportunity. In her decades at the World Bank, she worked with a remarkable group of colleagues, many of whom have remained friends and contributed to alleviating poverty and providing a better life for those in the countries she served.

After retiring from the World Bank in 1997, Ann went to Georgetown Law School and joined the Bar in D.C. and Maryland. Ann became a successful neighborhood activist, helping to preserve the Rosedale Estate and serving on many Boards, including Planned Parenthood, Arena Stage, and the Cleveland Park Citizens Association. She was, throughout her life, dedicated to her family, taking children and grandchildren on wonderful trips around the world and attending plays, recitals. basketball games, and every graduation. Ann maintained an incredible set of lifelong friends — friends from every stop in her life — and never stopped making friends. She combined great wit, great intelligence, genuine warmth, and a never-ending interest and engagement in the lives of her friends and family.

A memorial service will be held at Gawler's Sons LLC. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington or the Arena Stage.