Anne L. Hoover

Anne Liess Hoover, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, godmother, and friend passed away peacefully on March 3. Anne dedicated her life to family, service, and compassion, which she extended with quiet grace to everyone she encountered. Above all, Anne loved her family and devoted her life to growing and strengthening it.

Anne was the eldest daughter and granddaughter in an extended Irish Catholic family from Chicago. Her immediate family settled in the northern suburb of Glenview, Illinois, where Anne grew up with her younger siblings, Jack, Kathy, and Jane, and near her cousins, Judy and Bruce Carroll. Anne cherished her siblings and cousins and they in turn looked up to Anne as the family’s bedrock. They remained close throughout their lives—Anne made sure of it.

Anne’s devotion to family was rooted in her strong Catholic faith. She grew up as a parishioner at Glenview’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church and attended grade school there. She gained her formative education from the Sisters of Providence at Marywood, a Catholic high school for girls in Evanston. After graduation, Anne attended St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, a Catholic women’s college near the University of Notre Dame. Anne graduated from St. Mary’s in 1966, establishing her as the first woman in her family to earn a college degree. More would follow in her footsteps.

During a summer break from St. Mary’s, Anne worked as a camp counselor in Glenview alongside a Notre Dame student named Robert “Bob” Hoover. Though they grew up blocks apart in Glenview, were members of the same Parish, and attended colleges across the street from each other in South Bend, that summer camp was the first time Anne and Bob ever met. From that moment they would never be apart. Anne and Bob fell in love and were married on June 3, 1967. They spent the next 58 years as partners and soulmates, settling in Bethesda, Maryland, where they raised four children—Brian, Megan, Maureen, and Kevin—welcomed into their family their children’s four spouses, and rejoiced the birth of eight grandchildren.

Anne united her and Bob’s families as one. Over three generations, through Anne’s generosity and determination, the Hoover/Liess clan grew to encompass the families of Anne and Bob’s siblings, cousins, uncles, and aunts, eventually extending to the families of their children-in-law and nieces and nephews. Spearheaded by Anne, these families have celebrated dozens of graduations, weddings, childbirths, baptisms, confirmations, mitzvahs, and other feats, despite being divided across two coasts and at least ten states. The combined family’s centerpiece was an annual vacation to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, which Anne carried on for nearly four decades. Now, every other year, these families gather in Chicago for a reunion, including a pilgrimage to Glenview. This bond was forged by Anne’s love, will, and leadership.

Anne and Bob moved to Bethesda in 1972. They lived in the same home on Sleaford Place—a stroll away from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church—for more than 35 years. From that home, Anne nurtured her four children through school, sports, and music, and watched with pride and joy as they graduated from colleges and graduate schools, embarked on meaningful careers, and built families of their own. Every Sunday, Anne welcomed home her children and their families for a generous dinner of salmon, swordfish, and steak, the most scrumptious potatoes any Irish mother could conjure, and ice cream with sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and canned whipped cream that usually ended up sprayed all over her grandchildren’s giggling faces. Before and after dinner, Anne’s children and grandchildren competed in Wiffle ball, the Hoover Olympics, HORSE, and other backyard games, while Anne looked on with delight from her kitchen window.

Just as she did with her family, Anne united her community of parishioners, neighbors, and colleagues. She was an active member of Our Lady of Lourdes, where she dutifully attended Mass each Sunday, on every Holy Day of Obligation, and daily during Lent. She served as a Eucharistic Minister, taught Sunday School to special needs students, and, with Bob’s help, organized and ran Lourdes’ Sunday meals program and clothing pantry for community members in need. Every Fourth of July, Anne and Bob celebrated America’s birthday by organizing a neighborhood parade on Sleaford Place, for which they hosted dozens of children to decorate their bikes, awarded them all prizes for their patriotism, and fed them and their families hot dogs and her renown Baked Alaska dessert. And Anne and Bob toasted the promise of each passing year by hosting their neighbors, colleagues, and friends for a New Year’s Day brunch that extended well into the evening over Black Velvets and Irish Coffee. The warm and inviting Hoover home and family network that Anne and Bob built together invigorated Sleaford Place.

Amidst these family and community accomplishments, Anne also distinguished herself as a pioneering educator. After completing graduate studies at DePaul and Harvard, Anne focused her career on helping students with learning differences. She joined the field—which for her was a vocation—well before mainstream schools dedicated resources and attention to special needs students. Over a 31-year career, Anne mentored dozens of educators and volunteers as the Director of Tutoring at Washington’s Kingsbury Center, a school and clinic for special needs students, that she helped grow from a small office in DuPont Circle to a multi-grade school in upper Northwest. Anne retired in 2017 but remained active on the Kingsbury board and advocating for students with learning differences.

In 2021, Anne moved from Sleaford Place to BrightView, a memory care community in Great Falls, Virginia. Even as she confronted challenges late in life, she continued to serve and strengthen her community. Anne appointed herself an adjunct member of the BrightView staff, attending its meetings and doing her level best to tend to the needs of her fellow residents. She endeared herself to Brightview with the same cheerful smile and kindness she used to fortify her family, her Parish, Kingsbury, and Sleaford Place.

Anne is survived by her devoted husband of 58 years, Bob; her children and their spouses, Brian (Maren), Megan (Justin), Maureen (J.P.), and Kevin (Laura); her eight grandchildren: Jackson (21), Patrick (21), Ellie (17), Ryan (15), Connor (14), Rowan (12), Riley (8), and Maddie (4); and her siblings and cousin Judy, along with dozens of other cousins, nephews, nieces, and godchildren. Anne adored these and all her family members, who brought her endless joy and purpose, and who loved Anne dearly in return.

A funeral Mass to honor and celebrate Anne’s life will be held on Monday March 10, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Ann Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia. A repast will follow the service at Bob’s home nearby. Directions will be provided. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made in Anne’s memory to Mary House, https://www.maryhouse.org/ a community-based organization that provides housing and support services to low-income immigrant and refugee families in the D.C. metro area, where Anne also volunteered.