Ann Hetherington Cain Tibbets

July 28, 1922-September 28, 2002

2002 Obituary

She was one of the last members of her family to have met and known her cousin, Amelia Earhart. Ann always respected her cousin, Amelia, and what she had accomplished."

I looked up to her and admired her," Mrs. Tibbets told WFAA-TV in a July 2002 interview. Many people had that same regard for her cousin, aviator Amelia Earhart. "I couldn't do the things she did," Mrs. Tibbets said, "but I thought it was wonderful that she did them."

Mrs. Tibbets was almost 15 when her cousin vanished in the South Pacific on July 2, 1937, during an attempt to become the first woman to circle the globe. Ms. Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. "

She saw this brilliant woman succeeding in a very different way, and she was very impressed by her cousin who was doing all these fabulous things," said Joan Tibbets Hudson of Dallas, daughter of Mrs. Tibbets. "Amelia was definitely a roll model."

TIBBETS, ANN HETHERINGTON CAIN, beloved mother, grandmother, godmother and teacher, passed away in Dallas, Texas on September 27, 2002. Ann was born in Kansas City, Missouri on July 28, 1922 to John W. and Annie OP. Cain.

Mrs. Tibbets was born in Kansas City, MO on July 28, 1922 to John W. and Annie OP. Cain. She received her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri in 1944, and then worked as a stenographer with the War Department in Washington, D.C. during World War II, deciphering code for the military. She returned to Kansas City briefly after the war, and in 1947, she married Charles R. Tibbets and moved to San Antonio, TX where she lived for the next 49 years. She obtained her teacher's certificate from Trinity University in 1960 and taught English at Alamo Heights Middle and High schools for 24 years.

After her retirement in the mid-80's, Mrs. Tibbets was a docent at the Witte Museum and the Institute of Texan Culture in San Antonio. She wrote free-lance stories for the San Antonio Express-News and North San Antonio Times. Mrs. Tibbets, who collected miniatures and owned collector's dollhouses, also wrote for a hobby magazine.

She volunteered her time in reading programs for children, many of whom were disadvantaged, said her daughter. "Her passion was teaching young people," Mrs. Hudson said. "She was a gifted reader and she just loved sharing stories with kids."

Beloved mother, grandmother, godmother and teacher, Ann Tibbets passed away in Dallas, TX on September 27, 2002, at the age of 80. Mrs. Tibbets is survived by her son, Michael R. Tibbets and wife Marcia of Houston; daughter, Joan Tibbets Hudson and husband Chuck of Dallas; beloved grandchildren, Daniel and Mary Tibbets; brother, Jack Cain and wife Jane of Costa Mesa, CA; brother-in-law, Thomas J. Tibbets of San Antonio; her loving godchildren, Jeanie Williams McGaughy of Austin and Rosie Williams Udouj of Jackson, MS; step grandchildren, Nora, Caitlyn and Andrew Hudson and hundreds of her former students whose lives were touched by her special gift for teaching. She was buried next to her parents in Atchison, KS.