Ann “Gran” Stevens

Wells – Ann “Gran” Stevens, 81, passed away on December 12, 2025, following a courageous journey with Alzheimer’s disease.

Born on March 23, 1944, in Portland, Maine, Ann was the daughter of the late Lt. George Morong, USN (Ret.), and Virginia Thompson Morong. She graduated from South Portland High School in 1962 and later attended the University of Maine, where she met her future husband, John Stevens. They married on September 25,1964 and shared more than six decades of love, partnership, and adventure.

Although Ann did not pursue a formal teaching career, she was a teacher in every sense of the word. A devoted homemaker, she lovingly raised her two children and volunteered at her grandson’s school.  She was a nurturing presence to all who knew her.  Ann had an adventurous spirit and a lifelong love of learning. She traveled the world starting early being in a Navy family and lived in Spain and multiple US cities. Family were her favorite travel companions, cruising with John, to China, Russia, Egypt with her mother and sisters and ultimately achieving her goal of visiting all seven continents. She treasured taking her family, including grandsons, on an African safari. She loved sailing the coast of Maine with family aboard her sister and son’s boats, completed three marathons walking, and was an avid reader. As a breast cancer survivor, she faced life with resilience and a wonderful sense of humor.

Ann was an excellent cook and enjoyed hosting holiday gatherings. She was always doing whatever she could to help others. She was deeply devoted to her grandchildren, joyfully caring for and guiding them with the same values she instilled in her own children.

She was predeceased by her beloved daughter, Kelly Stevens. She is survived by her husband, John Stevens of Wells; her son, Michael Stevens and wife Jennifer Lindsley Stevens of Kennebunk; three grandsons, Conor and fiancée Lindsay Hill, Riley, and Kaden; and her sisters, Jean Morong of Rhode Island and Janice Morong and wife Lynn Thurston of Scarborough.

The family extends heartfelt thanks to the staff at Huntington Commons and Gentiva Hospice for their compassionate care.

Visiting hours will be held from 8:30-9:15am on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at Conroy-Tully Walker Funeral Home of South Portland, with prayers at 9:15 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Cross Church, South Portland, with burial at Calvary Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org or Gentiva Hospice, www.gentivahsp.com.

A Letter from John:

“She was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my week-end rest,

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought it would last forever – – I was wrong.”

– W.H. Auden (amended)

We met at the University of Maine in 1962 at her freshman dance mixer and for me it was love at first sight. I was a sophomore majoring in business and she was going to be a teacher. However, a job offer from Kraft Foods changed that plan in the summer after my junior year when I took the job. We got married in September of 1964. Although Ann did not fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher in the literal sense she did indeed become a teacher in the figurative sense; and I was her first student.

Ann was the oldest of three sisters. I was an only child who never really knew what it meant to be a part of a family. I was a protestant and Ann was Catholic and mixed marriages were a big deal back then. But her whole family and her friends welcomed me like I was one of their own. Ann taught me the meaning family love and laughter and the concept of supporting each other.

We had two children, Kelly and Michael, and Ann’s teaching continued. She taught them to love, support and respect themselves and each other. She spent hours working with Michael helping him to read which was a struggle for him. She taught them the value of hard work and assuming responsibility, of being truthful and honest.

My job required frequent travel and four relocations. Through it all Ann managed the household, managed the moves and exposed Kelly and Michael to different cultures and taught them the values of assimilating and learning from the experience.

Her dedication did not end with our children. She relished in her role as a virtual day-care center and teaching facility for our three grandsons five days a week during the school year and as entertainment center in the summer months. Ann indoctrinated our grandsons with the same values she taught Kelly and Michael.

Ann traveled extensively with her mother and sisters to Russia, China and Spain. I traveled stateside in my job, but had no experience nor interest in traveling world-wide – – – until I grudgingly consented to go on a cruise to the Baltic nations of Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Russia after I retired. I was hooked – – obsessed with seeing the world. Again, Ann, ever the teacher, showed me the value of understanding and appreciating new cultures and new experiences. It was her goal to visit all seven continents and she did capping it off with a cruise to the South Pole. She would stand out on the deck in the freezing cold for hours so as not to miss a single ice burg or penguin that we passed while I huddled in the warmth of an enclosed observation section. When she couldn’t teach she observed and learned. When she could not observe first hand she read about it. Always leaning; always teaching; always growing. But, Ann wasn’t content to just educate me to the endless gifts of travel and exploration. In June of 2016 Ann used money she inherited from her mother to take our entire family on a two- week African Safari to Kenya and Tanzania where we witnessed the Great Migration, took an air ballon ride over the Serengeti and had an experience few people ever know. Yes, Ann could have spent the money on herself. But that wasn’t Ann’s way. Her way was to share, to give the gift of knowledge to others.

Alzheimer’s may have stolen some of these memories from her in the end, but they didn’t steal the generosity of sharing her experiences and knowledge of world-wide experiences and culture. Yes, Ann did indeed become a teacher, a great and giving teacher. Ann’s “bucket list” was bigger than life and she shared it with all of us.

– John Stevens