Obituaries

Ann M. French, 98, an active community member and leader as well as housewife, Mother and Librarian, passed away on Saturday, February 3, 2023, at the Seneca Manor Nursing Home.

Ann was smart, easy going and a wonderful friend, wife and Mother. She was a good conversationist, listener and often ready with a joke or pun. While she lived in the Village of Manlius, she was a member of the Planning Board and the Garden club. After moving to Oswego, she became a member of the Friends of the S.U.N.Y. Oswego Penfield Library and served as President. She was a volunteer at the Oswego Public Library and involved with the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Finally, she also was a member of the First United Methodist Church.

Ann M. French was born in Ilion New York in 1924. Her Father Carl Alfred Wistrup was an immigrant from Denmark and engineer who worked for RCA which eventually became General Electric. Because of his job, Ann and her Mother Nellie Mae Cheney and Brother (also Alfred) lived in many different towns in the Northeast including Erlton, Haddenfield and Collingswood New Jersey; Stratford Connecticut and Syracuse New York. Ann always did well in school and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in History at Douglass College which is part of Rutgers University in New Jersey as well as becoming a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society due to her excellent grades and performance.

After graduating from college, she became a librarian and worked in the libraries at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy New York and Syracuse University. It was in Syracuse that she met her husband Donald S. French who she married in 1953 and had her son Donald A. in 1958. She was a wonderful housekeeper and she loved cooking. Notable were her Pot Roast and Blueberry Muffins. Her intelligence and encouragement helped her son become a Full Professor in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.

Ann is survived by her son. She is predeceased by her husband as well as her brother and his wife Betsy. She is further survived by her brother’s sons Dan and Gil, and Gil’s son Gerrit.

Calling hours will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 Friday, February 10, 2023 at the Dain-Cullinan Funeral Home, 112 East Second Street in Oswego. A funeral service will follow at 6:00 at the funeral home.

Donations to the Oswego Public Library where Ann was a volunteer and regular customer would be most welcome.