Ann Lucille Rea of Godfrey, Illinois passed away on August 1, 2026 at the Charter Assisted Living Facility of Godfrey. She was 86.
Ann’s life began on September 21, 1939, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Alton, Illinois, the first child of Taylor and Lucille Narup. She was raised in Alton, attended St. Ambrose catholic School in Godfrey, and graduated from Marquette Catholic High School in 1957. She danced ballet growing up, and she attended Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree and met her future husband.
Ann worked as a lab technician at St. Joseph’s before marrying Don at St. Ambrose Catholic church on June 2, 1962. They lived briefly in Rossville, Illinois before moving to Calhoun County, Illinois where they lived in Kampsville before moving to Hardin where she spent most of her adult life raising their four children Chuck, Ellen, Sam, and Nate.
Ann was a member of St. Norbert’s Parish (now St. Francis of Assisi) and was a avid supporter of both the church and the school, ensuring all four kids received the Catholic education and volunteering at the church, including at all the annual fall church picnic weekends.
Ann loved baseball, especially the Cardinals, but more importantly, she loved any team her kids played on, She and Don traveled to watch their kids do everything; band, baseball, basketball, football, all of it, with pride and joy.
Ann absolutely adored Christmastime. The ornament over the tree thumbtacked to the ceiling and the mistletoe hanging from the kitchen doorframe never came down. Ever.
Ann loved to bake for her kids. Many times, the house filled with the smell of a triple batch of chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies spread out cooling on newspaper on the dining room table. She loved waffle nights with Don and the kids and her cherished brother Andy and his wife Annette and anybody else they could think of.
When the kids left home, Ann became a Teacher’s Aide for the Calhoun Community School district, working for ten years in the district helping children, especially those with learning challenges find their way. She also turned her creative talents into writing. She was a talented writer and published a novella, Following His Footsteps, a story of the arrest, passion, and death of Jesus Christ as seen through the eyes of a teenage boy names Asa.
Ann was never happier than on Memorial Day weekends at the house with her husband and her brother and the boys manning the grill, her, Ellen, and the girls working the spread, and a houseful and yard full of grandkids, and wiffle balls, footballs, frisbees, and anything else you could throw or bat around whizzing through the air. She loved her faith and her church and her husband and her family, and she loved life. All of it.
When the right time came in 2020, Ann left the house for the last time with Don and Moved to Charter in Godfrey to see out the rest of her days. She took care of him, and he took care of her, and Andy and Annette were there not five minutes away to watch over and take care of them both, and although glaucoma had taken don’s eyesight long before, he was with her all the way, right to the very end, until it was time to say goodbye.
Ann’s greatest legacy lives on in the family she loved so deeply.
Ann is survived by Donald, her husband for 64 years, her sons Chuck (Molly) of Moline, Illinois, Sam (Rowena) of Wheaton, Illinois, and Nate (Christina) of Maryland Heights, Missouri, her brother Andy Narup (Annette) of Godfrey. She is also survived by nine grandchildren Katie Rea of Rock Island, Andrew Rea of Manhattan, Kansas, Chris Meyer (Maggie) of Batchtown, Illinois, Patrick Meyer (Ellyn) of Springfield, IL, Divya Rea of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Deven Rea of Colombus, Ohio, Zach Rea of Wheaton, Brennan Rea of Lawrence, Kansas, and Meara Rea of Maryland Heights. She is also survived by a great-granddaughter Lucy, and another great-grandchild on the way, two nephews, Ben Narup of Collinsville, Illinois and Jake Narup (Chelsea) of St. Louis, Missouri, and a great-grand-niece Lucy.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents, her daughter Ellen Meyer, and her son-in-law Charlie Meyer.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. on August 17, 2026 at St. Ambrose Catholic church in Godfrey, Illinois.
Private burial will take place afterwards at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Godfrey.
Memorials are suggested to the St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Godfrey.
Online condolences and guestbook may be found at www.eliaskallalandschaaf.com.
