Anne R. Young

Anne R. Young, 95, passed away peacefully on September 14, 2018, at her home in Kingsport, Tennessee, surrounded by her loving family. She was born December 1922 in Port Chester, New York, to George and Alice Maven and grew up in Dobbs Ferry, New York. After graduation from Dobbs Ferry High School in 1940, she attended Pembroke College of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she received her BS degree in Biology. She began her Master’s degree studies at Brown and there met the love of her life, a brilliant young doctoral student named Howard Young in the Chemistry Lab where they both worked. In 1944, WWII intervened in their studies and Howard decided to follow his thesis advisor to a place called “Dog Patch” – the secret WWII name for Oak Ridge, Tennessee – to search for a way to isolate uranium for the first Atomic Bomb. Howard soon found a way to get Anne a job at the new Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, and she came down to Tennessee to work in the labs with him. Anne and Howard were married August 1945, two weeks after the war was over when Howard knew he wasn’t going to be sent overseas by the U.S. Army. They were married in the home of Rev. Robert Lundy, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge. They stayed in Oak Ridge until Howard was released from the Army and then moved back to finish their degrees at Brown. The new Dr. Howard Young was offered a job at Tennessee Eastman Company, a division of Eastman Kodak, and he and Anne moved to Kingsport in 1948 where they have lived for the last 70 years.Anne and Howard started a family soon after moving to Kingsport and raised their seven children in the house they built in 1954. Anne became well known at Andrew Johnson Elementary School PTA and was awarded a Tennessee PTA Lifetime Membership for her many hours of work at the school. With four daughters, she was also very active in Girl Scouting on all levels and was President of the Appalachian Girl Scout Council for six years. She was recently awarded her 60-year Membership pin from the Girl Scouts of America.Anne formed many dear friendships as a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) chapter in Kingsport and the Contemporary Book Club. The AAUW placed a display case in the Kingsport Public Library in her honor. She was active with and on the boards of both the Netherland Inn and the Exchange Place, and had served as the State Treasurer for the Tennessee Ornithological Society. She and Howard were both very active with the Friends of the Kingsport Public Library for many years, and they spent several years delivering Meals on Wheels. But of all the activities that Anne was involved with, her most cherished role was as a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.Anne was predeceased by her parents and her sister Alice Elizabeth Forbes (Betsey).She is survived by her husband of 73 years Howard Young and their seven children: Alice Young and husband Bill Hase; Glenn Young and wife Elise; Peggy Young; George Young and wife Peggy; Ralph Young and wife Lois; Betsey Hoyt; and Joan Martin. She is also survived by her ten grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and one soon-to-be great grandchild: Joe Young and wife Karen Ruff, along with their children Lillian and Mason; Meredith Young; Chris Bermudez and wife Jackie Kulinski, along with their children Jude and Elliot (expected January 2019); David Young; Lianne Young and husband Derek Kuhlenschmidt; Chris Young; Alex Young and wife Allie; Robert Young and fiancée Julie Meier; Laura Young; and Kaitlin Hoyt Helmly and husband Stephen. The family extends their thanks to all the friends who visited, called, or wrote cards and letters over the past several years; and a most heartfelt thank-you to Smoky Mountain Home Health & Hospice for their excellent, loving, and respectful care of Anne. Also, a tremendous thank-you to Renee and Ann, Anne’s wonderful and exceptional caregivers. No formal services will be held. The family will have a small, private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians or to the Netherland Inn Association.The care of Anne R. Young and her family has been entrusted to the staff of Oak Hill Funeral & Cremation Services.Read Obituary