Ann H Poole's Obituary
Ann Poole passed away suddenly on December 27, 2023. She was born in 1940 in Brooklyn, New York and was the only child of Seymour and Martha Levine, but grew up surrounded by her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. If you knew her for 5 minutes, you would know she attended high school with Neil Diamond and Neil Sedaka. After graduating from high school, Ann worked as a secretary, where her legs caught the attention of a young man working in an office next to her. Not long thereafter, Ann and that young man, Larry Rockman, were married and settled into the married lifestyle in Brooklyn, NY. Daughter Michele came along a few years later, and after Larry had been transferred to North Carolina, daughter Robin was born.
It was in North Carolina that Ann’s organizational and leadership skills first shined (as well as an interest in hockey). As the story goes, she, Larry and another couple attended a basketball game one evening, and Ann was bored. She was not thrilled with returning the next night but was pleasantly surprised to learn that the night’s event was a hockey game. Well, if you knew Ann, you would not be surprised to know she eventually became the president of the team’s booster club.
After returning to New York, the family settled into the suburban lifestyle, with Ann working and raising the girls, along with Peanuts the dog, while Larry traveled extensively for work. Not surprisingly, Ann became a huge fundraiser for Cancer Care. Unfortunately, Larry and Ann divorced after 27 years of marriage, but it was an amicable divorce and they remained friends until Larry passed. In the meantime, Ann met Richie Poole and they relocated to Florida and were married in 1989. However, the years before her marriage to Richie were, shall we say, colorful, with Ann managing an all-male dance revue. There were some interesting dinner guests at the house during that time.
The life force that was Ann Poole firmly established her presence in Florida in a more conservative manner, although she never hesitated to regale an audience with stories of her managing the dancers. Dancing of a different sort became her passion when she and Richie moved into Heritage Springs, where she was a loyal, long-time member of the Dancing Divas. Ann was the Assistant Producer for the annual talent/dance show, or as Ann referred to herself, the “Ass Pro.”
Leading a full life, Ann was a notary, organizer of trivia nights at Heritage Springs, and the driving force behind the annual fundraiser event for the Pasco County Special Olympics, “A Night at the Races.” She also created and organized an annual Veterans Day event and was a member of the Social Committee at Heritage Springs. If that wasn’t enough, she volunteered at Trinity Elementary School and then Trinity Oaks Elementary School, where she was a valued teacher’s assistant who became a grandma to many students. And to fill whatever spare time she had, she also volunteered as a local elections poll worker.
She marched on after the passing of Richie, her heart surgeries, and back surgeries. Ann lived the last few months of her life at The Watermark, where she quickly started volunteering and endearing herself to staff and residents by simply being Ann. Over the years, she made friends standing in line at the grocery store, at the doctor’s and dentist’s office, hair salon, concerts, and of course, the countless businesses that donated to her causes. The Energizer Bunny had nothing on Annie.
Ann is survived by daughter Michele Hurm (Blair), daughter Robin Ottaviano (Nick), granddaughters Jessica Sigur, Leanne Ottaviano and Hannah Hurm, and cousin Cyndi Sobel. A celebration of life memorial is planned for February 3, 2024, at Heritage Springs Country Club from 1-3 pm.
In lieu of flowers, Ann's family has asked that donations be made in her memory to the Special Olympics: https://give.specialolympicsflorida.org/site/Donation2?1400.donation=form1&df_id=1400&mfc_pref=T
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