Anne Gans Kannen, beloved mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend, passed away December 18 at Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, New Jersey, following a brief illness. She was 86. A redhead with a zest for life, the daughter of Albert and Lillian Kushinsky was born July 13, 1935, in Toms River, New Jersey, sister of the late Hon. Richard Kushinsky and Norman and George Galinkin. An avid reader and lover of books and art, Anne attended Douglass College at Rutgers University following her graduation from Toms River High School. She later transferred to Boston University and subsequently received her master’s degree in counseling at Rutgers University, where she also worked towards her PhD.
On June 1, 1958, Anne married the love of her life, the handsome Harvard University and Harvard Law School graduate, Burton T. Gans, with whom she had three children, Adam, Abby, and Andrew. The striking couple raised their children in Deal, New Jersey, and nothing was more important to either than the well-being and happiness of their kids. Children, in fact, were Anne’s lifelong focus, first as a sixth-grade teacher in Eatontown, New Jersey—some of her students, now in their 70s, were still in touch—and later as President of Center Playschool, counselor at Red Bank Regional High School, and a social worker at the Mental Health Association of Monmouth County. It was at the latter where she was the Director of the Family Companions program, training volunteers to work with families with abuse or neglect in the home. Her later work with the MHA included orchestrating and conducting support groups for children with Tourette syndrome and counseling those with a mentally ill family member. She retired from her position after nearly 35 years at the age of 82.
As fervent an advocate as she was for children, Anne was equally passionate on the tennis court. During her retirement, Anne had the chance to focus on some of her other lifelong passions, including painting, reading, theatregoing, beach going, completing New York Times crossword puzzles, and spending time with family and friends.
If Anne had any mission in life, it was to create a loving, joyful, and peaceful home for her family and any visitor who had the good fortune to be in her presence. Food was always plentiful, and her gourmet cooking was the glue that kept her extended family together through decades of Thanksgiving and Passover holidays. Her passion and enthusiasm for everything life had to offer was evident in her laughter that always rang throughout any house she called home.
Anne’s family was especially thankful for last month’s Thanksgiving, where she didn’t have to do any of the cooking, but could sit back, be the belle of the ball, be serenaded by son Andrew, and revel in all the love that came her way from every grateful family member there.
Pre-deceased by her husband, Anne is survived by the aforementioned Adam L. Gans, Esq., wife Maria, and grandson Christian Billalba; daughter Abby Gans Solomon, the late John Solomon, and granddaughters Sara and Rebecca Solomon; and son Andrew Gans; as well as sister-in-law Ilona Kushinsky.
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