Woodbury-

Anne Louise Nethercott Ravenda passed away peacefully, with her children by her side, on February 2, 2023, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut after not waking up on the morning of Friday, January 27, 2023. She was a longtime resident of Bethel, Connecticut, then Woodbury, Connecticut and finally of Newtown, Connecticut.

Anne was born on July 8, 1938 in Port Chester, New York to parents Robert Nethercott and Anna Corletti. She was born into a very large and hardworking family of stone mason and clambake professionals. She was the first daughter after five boys and, it turns out, she was just the beginning of a girl streak for Robert and Anna and was followed by three more sisters. One can only assume that Port Chester was never the same after the Nethercott gang ensued mayhem from their headquarters on Irenhyl Avenue.

In 1955, Anne received her high school diploma or equivalent (depends upon who you ask) and we're pretty sure PC High School sighed with relief. She later entered the St. Joseph's Nursing School in Yonkers New York with a bunch of nuns for classmates. Her St. Joe's yearbook has messages from her classmates saying she was a 'hoot', and a  'smarty pants', and there was more than one mention of her sneaking out after curfew to go dancing. Despite those glowing attributes she graduated in 1958 with her nursing degree. Anne was a nurse at Danbury Hospital from 1973 to 1992 as a float which means she worked different medical floors whenever that floor was short a nurse. Every night she never knew which floor she would be working on but she especially loved working on the maternity floor and pampering the new moms because she knew that they needed a mommy too. Her other favorite floor was pediatrics where she would rock the sick children to sleep at night. Her heart knew no limits when it came to tenderly caring for the sick as if they were her own family.

Anne met Emil Ravenda on a double date. We don't know who was dating who of the four people, so we'll just apologize now for the subsequent dumping that probably followed. We do know the other guy ended up being their best man so… you decide. They were married January 7, 1961, and Emil was immediately put to work shucking clams at the Nethercott family clambakes. They settled into an apartment in Norwalk, CT and shortly thereafter welcomed their beautiful baby boy, Matthew, followed by their equally beautiful baby girl, Mary. Then the mold was broken by their next baby girl, Eileen, and they said "ARRGGG NO MORE!" They promptly moved to Bethel, Connecticut, where they lived out their married life and raised their 3 children.

Anne and Emil enjoyed dragging their children to NYC pretty much every darn weekend to enjoy the symphony, soloists, Broadway shows, museums, and fantastic food. At the time, all their kids wanted to do was to stay home and be with friends, but considering how Matt became an artist and Mary and Eileen became musicians – those cultural outings were time well spent. The family also loved to drive to various places of interest in the United States especially if the destinations had beaches and could be reached in a car without air conditioning. Toddler Eileen may have stopped Congress while on a trip to Washington, DC; Mickey and Minnie apparently never missed the loot that was absconded by the Ravenda girls; the lobsters in Virginia Beach are still talking about the great bathtub abduction and salty return of 1978. They also loved to travel without their spawn and saw pretty much all of Europe, the Caribbean, and parts of South America. Later, Anne loved traveling to Ireland with Eileen, and road trips with her sister, Jane, as Eileen chauffeured, or chaperoned, or both.

Anne and Emil's marriage ended in 2001 and we (her kids) moved her out of the house in Bethel. We then proceeded to move mom four more times while purposefully downsizing her each time because man, did she have a lot of stuff! Legend has it that her custom-made and very heavy dining room table met a fiery end after moving her for the 3rd time, but it's hard to say for sure.

Anne loved to cook  and always had the TV on with cooking shows such as Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, the Galloping Gourmet as well as subscriptions to Bon Appetit and Cooks Illustrated. We never came home to grilled cheese and tomato soup and learned early in life that caviar was a good thing and that osso buco wasn't the name of a long-lost cousin.

Anne's other hobby was gardening, and our earliest memories are of her bending over a patch of soil. She may or may not have enlisted her children to help and one kid may or may not have proudly picked all the green tomatoes, but seeing how child labor laws frown upon such shenanigans, we'll just say she did it all herself. She received her Master Gardener of Connecticut certificate in the 90's and really enjoyed her time as a volunteer at the UConn horticulture extension center in Bethel. Her gardens were a thing of beauty, and she took great pride in her blooms and veggies.

A special mention has to be made about Anne's beautiful penmanship. Her calligraphy-like handwriting was very hard to reproduce, which explains all those school permission slips from dad.

Anne's agile brain was excellent at numbers, vocabulary, and a rapidly quick repartee. She used that brain to best her siblings at scrabble - not all the time, we know, we know. Her usage of swear words would make a sailor blush, and she was always up for a good time, a good drink, and a good prank.

She didn't suffer those she perceived as slighting her and, unfortunately, as her years went on, that list grew. Pretty much everyone she knew was on that list by the end so you're in good company. Just know, if the wrath was especially hurtful, it just means she really loved you.

When her agile brain started to go, it was confusing, aggravating and very scary to us and especially for her. Her normal reaction to anything was a good fight, but for the last ten years she behaved like a cornered animal biting anyone trying to help. However, throughout it all, her sense of humor was still there, and we were usually able to turn that frown upside down by cajoling her with a grin, eye roll, and/or silly comment.

Throughout her life, she loved her family and fiercely loved her children. If you were among the non-family she loved, then you know what a larger-than-life special person she was. Please raise a glass of your favorite drink and give a toast to Anne – she'll be listening and judging so it better be good!

Anne was predeceased by her ancestors, parents, and brothers, Richard, Thomas, and Laurence Nethercott; sister Linda DeBell; sister-in-law Nora Allworth Nethercott; brother- in-law Gerald DeGraw; nephews John Santarsiero and Robert DeBell, and niece Audra DeBell.

She is survived by her grandchildren, whom she adored: Anne Mercer (Matthew Curley) and Jaclyn Mercer; brothers Raymond (Loretta) and John (Elaine) Nethercott; sisters Janet DeGraw and Regina Nethercott; brother-in-law Austin DeBell, and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Anne will be greatly missed by her children: Matthew Ravenda (Diane), Mary Mercer (Joseph) and Eileen Berglund (Kurt), who will now have to navigate life without her love, wit, and gazillion phone calls.

Anne's burial service will take place when the flowers have bloomed in her memory, on Saturday May 6, 2023 at 11:00 am in the chapel at Evergreen Cemetery, Watertown.  Please check back for service information.

To leave an online condolence please visit www.munsonloveterefuneralhome.com.