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When Annette and I joined the BotSoc back in 1985, there were some faces that were fixtures on field trips. Anna Belle and Bill Close were two of them. I remember the first time I met her and was struck by her well-worn green windbreaker that was literally covered with patches from places she'd been and things she'd done. As her life passed, that list became a long one, far too many to sew onto her coat.
One of the things I enjoy most about field trips is being surrounded by people who are eager to learn new things. Annette and I had little children back then that we dragged wherever we went, whether they liked it or not. Anna Belle grew up that way, too, born to missionary parents in Guatemala. Her father was an entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D. C., with offices in the Natural History Museum where Anna Belle was known to go wandering on her own at the age of 5!
As I remember her, she was always excited by seeing new things, by seeing old things in new ways, and by sharing her excitement with others. On the last trip I was with her, she was enjoying the thousands of caterpillars that were all over the shoals spider lilies at Steve Johnson's place. Seeing pictures of her as a little girl at the funeral home seemed natural, because she was still just like that in the world of nature.
When Anna Belle took over editing of Tipularia, she instantly became known as the society's grammarian. Bill Turman, her son-in-law, says it must be genetic as one of her grandchildren is now known as the "grammar Nazi!" If you turned in an article to her, there would be many marks on it when you got it back for revising. And there would be revising!
On the way home from the funeral home, I heard the wonderful song 'Tis the Gift to Be Simple and thought how fitting. Anna Belle and Bill lived life that way. And it was a very meaningful, fulfilled life that ended Friday, October 18. Her life was a model that these days is hard to come by. I will miss her.
Scott Ranger
(Editor's note: Anna Belle Close died October 18, 2002. She was a long time Bot Soc member and was very involved until poor health precluded her from actively participating and coming on walks.)
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