Ann Andrew

Ann Killian Andrew, 92, a lifelong parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church; a wife, mother, grandmother, and great‑grandmother; and a thirty-year teacher of social studies at St. Mary's Academy High School died on Thursday, July 23.

Born in 1927 to Agnes and Tom Killian, Ann was five years old when her family moved to Bonnie Brae.  From their new house, the Killian kids walked the three blocks to St. Vincent de Paul grade school accompanied by their dog, Lassie.  Nearby Washington Park was their playground.  Ann and her friends ice skated on the North lake when it froze in winter, and she loved the flower gardens in summer.

Ann entered St. Mary's Academy High School as a freshman in Fall, 1941.  Pearl Harbor occurred a few months later, and World War II formed the backdrop of her high school years.  This created her deep interest in current events, a passion she would later ignite in so many of her students.  Always good at making friends, Ann was both prom queen and May queen before graduating from St. Mary's in May of 1945.

Ann began her college career at Loretto Heights.  She transferred to the University of Denver to study journalism, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948.  She also earned a certificate in teaching, her true vocation.  Ann began her career as a third-grade teacher at Washington Park Elementary School, where she taught for three years.  In the summer of 1950, she and a friend sailed from New York for an extensive tour of Europe.  It was the first of many European trips.

In June, 1951, Ann married Martin J. Andrew, a dashing young naval aviator.  Their romance was sparked when their mothers, both Irish, both named Agnes, and friends since girlhood, brought them together at a family dinner.  The wedding was held at St. Vincent de Paul Church.  The newlyweds moved to Washington, D.C., where Marty reported to the Naval Language School.  He became fluent in Italian; she became excited at the prospect of their being posted to Italy.  Instead, with the Korean War underway, Marty received overseas orders to the Pacific.  Ann returned to the Killian home, and to teaching third grade, this time at Cory Elementary.

When Marty returned from sea, the couple moved to California for their favorite and final posting, on Coronado.  They loved the climate, and the ocean, and made lifelong friends there.  In 1954 Marty resigned from the Navy, and they returned to Denver, where their three children were born.

In 1958, Ann accepted a job at St. Mary's Academy High School, and found that teaching high school girls was her special calling.  Ann would go on to teach at St. Mary's for 30 years, becoming chair of the social studies department.  She also served in recruitment, visiting the Catholic parochial schools each year to tell eighth-grade girls about St. Mary’s, and what an education in the special all-girls environment there had to offer.  Over the course of her career, Ann encouraged thousands of young women to believe in themselves, serving as a role model for many.  Ann's influence continues to radiate out through these women far into the future.

One of the greatest joys in Ann’s life began when she and Marty bought a house two doors down from her childhood home, where her parents and one sister still lived.  Ann took cuttings from her mother’s rose bushes, and cultivated a garden that soon kept her own house in roses all summer.

Ann retired from St. Mary's in 1988, and joined the Legal Aid Foundation.  She volunteered there every Thursday for nearly a decade.  Ann and Marty were thrilled to become grandparents, welcoming two grandsons during this time.  Seasoned world travelers, they enjoyed annual driving trips in Europe, and spent many weekends in Breckenridge.  They walked together daily in Washington Park until shortly before Martin died, in December, 1995.  They had been married for forty-four years.

Then sixty-eight years old, Ann rose to this change in her life.  She enrolled in the Denver Catholic Biblical School, an intense four-year program of study, and earned her diploma.  She stayed active at church, continued to exercise in Washington Park, and enjoyed living in her home in Bonnie Brae for another eighteen years.  When she left her beloved house, Ann had lived on the same block of South Josephine for sixty-five years.  She moved to the nearby senior community of Heritage Club, where three members, close friends all, from her eighth-grade graduation class at SVdP also had apartments.  She continued to attend Mass at St. Vincent de Paul from her new location.

Ann lived her final four years at Someren Glen, a care community in Littleton.  She was still good at making friends, especially with the nurses and aides who cared for her.  She participated in the Sunday Catholic Communion service, monthly Mass, and the weekly rosary.  Ann was blessed to meet her two great-grandchildren before she died.

Her funeral Mass was celebrated on July 30, 2020, at St. Vincent de Paul Church, followed by burial at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery.

Ann is survived by her son Michael (Catherine) of San Diego, daughters Annette Elges (Michael) of Littleton, and Carol (Richard); her grandsons Sean (Elizabeth Butler) and Ryan Elges; her great-grandchildren Liam and Ellie; her brother Tom Killian of Lubbock, Texas, sister Patricia Smith of Littleton, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Ann was preceded in death by her husband Martin J. Andrew; her parents Agnes and Tom Killian; her sister Mary, and her brother Kieran.

Memorial donations:

Catholic Charities

Catholic Relief Services

Saint Mary's Academy High School