Ann H Kessler

Ann Hamilton Kessler brought light to her family through her limitless compassion, caring and love. Her greatest delight was spending time with her grandchildren and children, their spouses and her loving husband of more than 50 years, Carl Kessler. Ann loved taking care of those around her. She showed love to those around her by baking delicious cookies and sewing beautiful quilts for them.

Ann was born on November 26, 1946 in Freeport on Long Island in New York. She was the second child of Hazel Hamilton Abrahams and Alexander Robert Abrahams, Jr. The family moved to Wilmington, Delaware shortly after her birth. Ann was proud of her connection to Delaware and its status as the First State. As a young child, she looked up to her older brother, Alexander Abrahams III, who succumbed to cancer in 1957 at the age of 13. Ann’s mother passed away in 1973 and her father followed shortly after in 1974. She expressed her devotion to her parents through her thorough ancestral research and articles she wrote about her grandfather Alexander Robert Abrahams, who served as mayor of Wilmington, Delaware.

After graduating from Brandywine High School in Wilmington, Ann enrolled in Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She graduated with a B.A. in History and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Ann then pursued a Masters in Library Science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Following her graduation, she moved to Washington, DC where she worked for the DC Public Library at the Carnegie Library branch, which is now the home of the DC History Center. Ann met her librarian husband, Carl, while working there.

Ann continued working until the birth of her first child, Jessica Gail, in 1975 when she became a stay-at-home mom. Her son, Bruce Robert, was born in 1979. During this period, Ann became a consummate volunteer in numerous community organizations. While her children attended Ben Murch Elementary School, she volunteered in the school library and PTA. Later, Ann took on the role of school historian and published a history of the school. She also became active in the Forest Hills Citizens Association and served as their historian.

Ann showed continued passion and talent for writing throughout her life. She authored a chapter in a book on the history of the Forest Hills neighborhood of Washington, DC, published by Arcadia Press. Ann was also an author of numerous articles about banking (regardless of her feelings about the industry), including pieces published in the Encyclopedia Americana and the Encyclopedia of New Jersey. In later years, she wrote a popular series of articles on local history in the Forest Hills Connection about the neighborhood.

Ann returned to work in 1985 at the American Bankers Association (ABA) Center for Banking Information where she worked as a reference librarian until 2001. Next, she started as a librarian at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), where she worked until her retirement in 2010. Most recently, Ann had been volunteering at the Kiplinger Research Library at the DC History Center, where she continued to show her passion for DC history.

In 2016, she was diagnosed with leukemia (AML). Ann bravely and stoically went through months of difficult treatment at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, with the support of Carl and her family, which brought her cancer into remission. She enjoyed those last healthy years thanks to that treatment. In 2021, she received the news her leukemia had returned, which she faced with her typical bravery and resilience. She baked cookies for her doctors, and through her final treatment, she was joking and smiling with her nurses at Johns Hopkins. In accordance with her wishes, she passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family.

She is survived by her husband of more than 50 years, Carl Kessler of Washington, DC, her children, Jessica Kessler, of Takoma Park, Maryland, and Bruce Kessler, of Brookline, Massachusetts, their spouses, Jacob Harris and Hristiyaniya (Iya) Kessler, and her grandchildren, Alexander Harris and Miranda Harris, of Takoma Park, Maryland and Valentina Kessler and Alexander Kessler of Brookline, Massachusetts.

Services will be held at Joseph Gawlers’ Sons Funeral Home at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to either the DC History Center or directed to support Dr. Amy DeZern’s MDS/AML research at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.