Ann Breese White

Ann Breese was born in Lake Forest Illinois, the third child of four to Marjorie Gorges and James L. Breese Jr. Her father was an inventor and also a Navy pilot who flew for hire privately. While on an assignment flying over New Mexico from Chicago, low on gas, he landed his twin-engine plane in a cornfield, and walked into Santa Fe. Breese immediately fell under the spell of the Santa Fe lifestyle and culture. Shortly thereafter, he purchased an old adobe on Upper Canyon Road and moved out his family of six, complete with his polo ponies, from Lake Forest, Illinois to Santa Fe.

Ann enjoyed an idyllic childhood of exploring and horseback riding with real cowboys and Indians. The Breese family mingled with the famous art culture residing in Taos and Santa Fe. For instance, Ann would visit a girlfriend who lived out in Abiqui and together they would ride their horses and were able to watch Georgia O'Keefe paint. Mabel Dodge's husband Tony Luhan asked her to teach him the jitterbug at one fiesta gathering. Gustave Bauman's daughter was Ann's best friend and she enjoyed the famous marionette puppet shows that were given in their home. A friend of her father's and neighbor was Freemont Ellis. Once Elliot Porter, a famous photographer, asked her out on a date while he was trying to capture the ""perfect light"".

Ann graduated from Bennington College in 1947. Her education included a non-resident term studying under the instruction of the controversial Diego Rivera in Mexico City. After graduating, Ann met Charles Sink skiing in Santa Fe Basin. At the time, Chuck was living in New York working for I.M. Pei, on assignment to oversee the residences of scientists working for Robert Oppenheimer in Los Alamos, New Mexico. They were married in her family home in 1948. After living in New York and Caracas, Venezuela, they finally settled in Denver.

Ann was a prolific modernist artist working in oil, acrylic, and watercolor predominantly on large canvases. She exhibited her work in the Denver Art Museum, the Colorado Watercolor Society and several other galleries in Denver. She volunteered for over 50 years at the Denver Art Museum. Ann was a founding member of an artist's salon called ""The Nine"" which exhibited annually at Kent School. Currently, her work is in the permanent collection at the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art in Denver.

When her marriage ended in 1969, she went on to earn her teaching certificate and taught art in Denver Public Schools.

In 1974, Ann married yet another prominent Denver architect, Edward D. White. They were happily married for over 40 years until his death in 2017.

Ann was a member of the First Universalist Church in Englewood for over 50 years. She served on several committees, among them was ""Grandmothers for a Nuclear-Free World"". During the peace movement in the 1990s she took part in demonstrations at the Rocky Flats Plant of nuclear weapons outside Denver. She dearly loved and was an active member of the Denver chapter of the Fortnightly literary club.

Most of all, Ann was a loving mother and adored her eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She was passionate about the outdoors, animals, walking, tennis and of course always had a sketch book under her arm.

Ann is survived by her daughter Carol Patterson of Montrose, daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Joe Freeman of Englewood and son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Kristen Sink of Denver. She is also survived by her step children: Ted and Nancy White of Denver, and Jamie White and Andrew Sirotnak, MD of Denver.

A celebration of her life will be held Sunday March 31, 2019. Please e-mail annwhitememorial@gmail.com for further details.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to Denver Dumb Friends League in her memory.