Ann L. Calhoun

Ann L. Calhoun passed away unexpectedly at the age of 75 years and 45 days. Ann was a loving and proud mother and survived by her two children, Jim Kutudis and Jackie Hayter (Kutudis) and her dog, Daphne. Ann is also survived by her loving and supportive sister, Joan Kuebler, her children’s spouses, Kristen Kutudis and Keith Hayter, as well as three beautiful grandchildren, JJ, Brady and Connor.

Ann was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania to Marjorie and John Calhoun. Her mother, who attended college, was a voracious reader and later stayed at home to care for the children as her husband, Ann’s father, John, was a military officer in the US Navy. His naval career took the family across the world, including living in Rickmansworth, England where John worked at the Royal Airforce Base there. Marjorie, John, Ann and Joan lived there for a short time, long enough for the family to pick up some English accents on certain words, before settling in Pocono Mountain, PA. Ann graduated from Mount Pocono High School where she met the father of her children, George Kutudis. Ann later attended Penn State University and received a bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Ann is extremely proud to be a Nittany Lion and even slow danced with Joe Paterno.

Ann followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the US Navy at the age of 22 years old where she was a commissioned officer and worked as a nurse in the Naval Hospital of Philadelphia. Ann became pregnant with her first child in 1975 and left the Navy with distinguished service. James (Jim) Anthony Kutudis was born January 24, 1976, in Philadelphia, PA. Ann’s daughter, Jacqueline Ann Kutudis would join the family on August 24, 1980. The family moved to Binghamton, New York shortly thereafter.

Ann and George divorced and as a single mother of two young children she worked full-time as a nurse in Lourdes Hospital while attending SUNY Binghamton and achieved her Master’s Degree in nursing to become an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner in the early 1980’s.

The family lived on Pembroke Drive in Binghamton and Ann met David Kenien who lived just 4 houses down the road. Ann and Dave married in 1986 at Valley Christian Church in Binghamton, NY with their children, Jim, Jackie and Dave’s son, Nick, as witnesses. Ann and Dave worked extremely hard to provide for their blended family and were fortunate enough to take the kids on vacations to Disney World, where Jackie would be terrified by Space Mountain (never again!), snorkeling in Cancun, Mexico and many, many summers in the Poconos.

Ann and Dave were avid gardeners with established gardens in their yards in New York and in Jacksonville, FL growing squash, tomatoes, mint, cilantro, chili peppers and an abundance of other plants. Ann appreciated the simple beauty of the garden and loved to take photos of the colorful vegetables, plants and flowers.

Ann’s experience working in maternity, labor and delivery and neonatal intensive care units led Ann to work for a private physician practice in reproductive endocrinology and infertility treatments. Her commitment to her work, her patients and her family was intense - she would work weekends and take her kids to work, allow patients to drop off samples at her home and was successful in helping couples across the region leverage scientific advancements to become parents.

Through all of this, Ann found time to attend her children’s soccer games and tournaments all across the great state of New York. She was very proud of her son, Jim, and daughter, Jackie’s athletic abilities and achievements. Ann was a nurse and a no-nonsense kind of professional and could easily determine if one of her children was truly injured or sick, or just seeking sympathies. That could be pretty annoying for the kids.

Ann was a Christian and developed a community of friends from the valley Christian reformed church. She and Dave would often host the pastor and congregates at their house on Matthews Dr. in Binghamton, NY and serve Dave’s homemade Lebanese food, such as baba ghanouj, tabouleh, grape leaves, bazella with homemade pita bread and homemade wine.

Ann learned from Dave’s family how to make baklava from scratch and would spend weekends learning to stretch the phyllo dough across the whole kitchen table and how much rose water was just enough and how much was too much. Ann was an incredible cook in the kitchen and taught her children how to make a homemade salad and dressing that still is a family favorite today. Ann would stay up late if her children had a late sports game to ensure that they had a hot meal ready for when they got home. She leaves behind a family recipe book which will be cherished called “A Falling Star.”

Ann was fun and silly with her kids and would often wear silly hats or costumes or sing songs in funny accents to make the kids laugh and have fun. One particular time, Ann and Jackie attended church services for Maundy Thursday during Easter week, which is meant to be a reflective, silent church service. Both Ann and Jackie were surprised at how truly silent the service was and developed uncontrollable giggles and were asked to leave the main worship area for being disruptive. This would become one of the happiest memories they both shared throughout their lifetime.

At 43 years old, Ann was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which initially affected her vision and her balance. In the early days of the diagnosis, her vision was so poor that she was forced to leave her beloved job working at Dr. James Kondrup’s REI practice. Ann would later have access to a clinical trial where a new drug would put her MS into remission.

Ann took her experience and education and started working at a teen health center in Binghamton, NY providing education and healthcare access to at risk teens in New York. Ann would later work for the Children’s Advocacy Center in Jacksonville, FL providing healthcare for abused children.

Ann was a positive, vivacious person with a deep passion for providing healthcare but also advocating for those in need. Ann was a pioneer in her field and ahead of her time studying family planning, reproductive health, family systems and committed to women and children’s healthcare.

Having been an advanced nurse practitioner and a 40-year survivor of multiple sclerosis, Ann was an intelligent and fierce advocate for people with low vision, blindness and disabilities. In the early 2000’s Ann went to the University of North Florida and achieved her second master’s degree in disability services so that she could be a better advocate for those facing the challenges she had experienced over her lifetime with MS.

Ann moved from Jacksonville, FL to Orlando, FL to live closer to her kids. She moved into the same neighborhood as her daughter and son-in-law, and they might have said that was a little too close!

Ann enjoyed audiobooks and loved romance novels more than other genres. She enjoyed her books, her dogs Akbar, Ginger and then Daphne. She loved cooking for family, being outside in nature, watching the sunrise, swimming in a lake, the ocean or the pool.

Ann moved into an independent living facility, Cascade Heights in Longwood, Florida in 2023 where she developed friendships with many of the residents and staff. She played scrabble, went swimming and had a lady’s lunch routine daily. She even participated in the facility’s annual fashion show with her daughter and dog, Daphne.

Ann leaves a lasting impact on all of her family, friends and patients she served in healthcare. Ann was loved and respected. She lived her life on her terms, stood up for herself and others and committed to ensure her children would have a good life. She is already so deeply missed on this earth.