Anna "Ann" Jean Quinn

Anna Jean Theresa Quinn (nee Matura, aka Annie Wannie or just Ann), formerly of Munster and Griffith but forever a Whiting girl at heart, danced off this mortal coil in the early morning of February 20, 2024. She was 88. Born May 19, 1935, Ann was the last of six children and the only girl to survive; as such, she was, by her account, picked on terribly by her older brothers and by all other accounts was spoiled rotten by her mom. She developed quite the fashion sense, spending her Saturday afternoons hopping a bus and rotating between downtown Hammond and downtown Gary to curate her wardrobe for her job at Combustion Engineering. She and her pals were also fixtures at Madura’s Danceland and any place where one could cut a rug; it was at one of those places that she eventually met her forever boyfriend, a tall, skinny, big-eared guy named Lee who may not have been the blond-haired, blue-eyed bohunk she was used to dating, but those guys always ended up being jerks, and he was polite to her parents. Lee almost blew it, however, when family nonsense got to be too much, he took off to Alaska for a summer. After ignoring his letters professing his love for her, Lee called Ann when he got back to meet in person to explain. Ann accepted the date – and also made a date with a blond-haired, blue-eyed bohunk for the exact same time. You could still hear the glee in her voice years later when she told the story and got to the part where Lee “sped off in his car so fast, it was on two wheels!” Nevertheless, the two got married June 15, 1963, and Ann loved to remind everyone how she “had to have her wedding dress taken in TWICE because she just couldn’t eat.” Seven years later, during a cold, snowy winter, Lee and Ann adopted their greatest joy and disappointment in equal measure: their daughter Michelle who, instead of going to law school, grew up to be a reporter for one of the local papers. She may have wanted to strangle her child for most of her preteens, teens, 20s, 30s and 40s, and 50s, but the joke was on her because Ann took great pleasure in hob-knobbing with politicians and literally everybody when Michelle took her along to various events to get her out of the house after Lee died in 2001. (Her favorite was former Whiting Mayor Joe Stahura because he knew at least one of her brothers.) Speaking of her brothers, Ann loved them and their families fiercely -- especially her youngest brother, Joe, from whose death she never recovered. She was a devout Catholic who really loved saying the Rosary almost as much as she loved talking smack loudly and inappropriately. And boy, did she love to dance! She and Joe were known for tearing up the dance floor at every wedding. While many will say she's now in Heaven reunited with her tall, skinny, big-eared forever boyfriend, wherever she is now, let's be honest: Ann has either sought out Sister-in-Law Jean to compare who had it harder when they were both sick that one time, is talking smack with her besties or dancing to "Boats n' H*es" -- to which her great niece introduced her one recent Thanksgiving -- even though she didn't get the lyrics. She will be deeply missed and loved forever. Ann leaves behind Michelle (Christopher Tucker); many nieces and nephews, many great nieces and nephews and now her namesake, great-great niece Anna Rick, (who, after a spectacularly crabby night the same night Ann died, we’re convinced is now possessed by her great-great aunt’s spirit); and sister-in-law Bernice Ireton (late Ron). Preceding her in death are her beloved husband, Lee R. Quinn; her parents, Johan and Elizabeth Matura; her brothers John (late Ann), Michael (late Rose), and Joseph (late Jean); her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, James and Eileen Beil; her adored cousin, Maryann Roseto; and very best friends of more than 70 years, Yolanda Molnar and Arlene Smith. Friends are invited to celebrate Ann's life from noon until 2 p.m. on February 24, 2024 at Burns Funeral Home, 10101 Broadway, Crown Point, with a Catholic service at 2 p.m. All expressions of sympathy, including flowers and burial masses, are welcome. www.burnsfuneral.com.

Anna "Ann" Jean Quinn

May 19, 1935 - February 20, 2024