Anne Nichols Auman Sergeant died at Academy Point in Mystic CT on August 28 2021. She was born on November 17, 1930 in East Orange NJ, the daughter of William Richard and Edith Nichols Fairfield Auman. She grew up in northern NJ until World War II, and moved to Alexandria, VA in 1942. In 1949, she moved to Paris where her father was serving in the US Foreign Service. She attended the University of Grenoble for one year in 1949 where she spent much of her time skiing and bicycling in the Alps. The next year she enrolled in the Sorbonne in Paris where she received her “degree superior.” In 1951, she returned to the US and attended Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The following year she enrolled at George Washington University where she received her BS in Biology in 1954. It is interesting to note that she had as many credits in Art and French as she did in Biology.
In the 1980s, Anne worked as the secretary of the Mystic Chamber of Commerce, meeting many interesting local people in the Mystic area.
Anne was a devoted and wonderful landscape painter. Many art shows have displayed her work, including one-person shows in Alexandria, VA, L&M Hospital, Chelsea Groton Savings Bank, the New London Symphony Office, and Howe Library in Westerly, RI. Her paintings also were displayed in shows at the East Lyme Art League, the Mystic Art Center, Lyman Allyn Museum, and the Noank Historical Society. She was an elected artist of the Mystic Arts Center for many years and volunteered there as a docent. An avid gardener, she was an active member of the Mystic Garden Club for many years. She also was a member of the Child and Family Agency beginning in the 1970s and served repeatedly as chair of the women’s clothing section of their annual fund-raising sale.
While others went south, Anne went north to spend the winter months at her home in South Newfane, VT. She loved to ski (her favorite sport) well into her 80s. Her second close favorite activity was sailing out of Groton Long Point on many cruises to Nantucket, Block Island, Maine and Long Island. She and her husband also enjoyed European river cruises.
Anne married Russell L. Sergeant in Alexandria, VA on December 19, 1954. He predeceased her in 2014. She was proud of her three sons and their families who survive her: Russell Erik (Christine) and their children, Nicholas and Lucy; Peter Fairfield (Althea) and their children, Zachary and Sarah; and Stephen Nichols (Jill) and their children, Julia and Erik.
Services will be private. Donations can be made to St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 310 Fort Hill Road, Groton CT 06340 or Alzheimer ’s Disease Research, BrightFocus Foundation, 22512 Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, MD 20871.
The Sergeant family would like to express their gratitude to the staff at Academy Point for their years of compassionate care.