TEWKSBURY: Anne M. (Gilligan) Ahern passed away peacefully on Thursday February 12th. Originally from Malden, MA. Anne lived most of her adult life in Tewksbury, the beloved wife of Francis X. Ahern (died 2002), and devoted mother of Robert, Brian, Madelyn, Douglas, Kenneth, Colin and Russell Ahern. Anne lived a happy and full life devoted to her family, friends and her church. She was a daily communicant of St. Williams Church and regular volunteer at the House of Hope and other local charities. Anne loved sports. She played both golf and tennis and enjoyed cross country skiing. But she derived the most joy from watching her children play sports. Win or lose they knew that Mom was their biggest fan. Anne will be remembered by all who knew her for her positive attitude and her sense of humor. Anne was renowned for her vocabulary and spelling ability and won many awards for her skills. Anyone who played Scrabble with her learned this the hard way. She was the valedictorian of her class at Girls Catholic High in Malden. She worked for many years at the Internal Revenue Service and earlier at Bell Telephone.
Anne was greatly loved and will be sorely missed by her children and their spouses: Robert Ahern and Jennifer Taylor Ahern of Tewksbury, Brian and Barbara Ahern of Acton, Madelyn and George Telesh of Daytona Beach, Douglas Ahern and Janet Mitchell of Andover, Kenneth and Sharon Ahern of Andover, Colin and Carolyn Ahern of Andover and Russell Ahern and Guylaine Beaulieu of Haverhill, as well as Anne's sixteen (16) grandchildren and two (2) great grandchildren. Anne is predeceased by her two brothers, Thomas and Walter Gilligan. She is survived by her sister, Ruth Smith of Medford.
There are No Calling Hours. A funeral Mass will be held for her at St. William’s Church, 1351 Main St., Rte. 38 in Tewksbury on Saturday Feb. 21st at 11:30am. Interment at Tewksbury Cemetery. As it is the Lenten Season, the family requests that there be no flowers, but donations may be sent to the House of Hope, 812 Merrimack St. Lowell, MA 01852 - where Anne was a volunteer for many years. The Ahern family invites all family friends and relatives to join them in a celebration of Anne's life on Saturday the 21st at 1:30pm at Indian Ridge Country Club on Lovejoy Road in Andover. Arrangements entrusted to Farmer & Dee Funeral Home, Tewksbury.