Anna E. (Krysin) Ripley

Anna Edwina (Krysin) Ripley, was born on December 2, 1920. She peacefully departed from this earth at the age of 101 on Sunday May 22, 2022. A native of Greenfield and lifelong resident she will be sorely missed by her family, friends and acquaintances.
Anna’s husband of 38 years, Ellwyn Oliver Ripley, fondly known as Rip, predeceased her in 1980 at the age of 61. Rip was a former employee of the AT&T Company on Church St. After Dad’s passing, Anna, at the age of 60, continued to live alone in the house they built together  on 61 Smith Street in 1953.
Anna leaves behind her two daughters. Patricia Anne Ripley married James Stephen Gonet and now lives in Bourne, MA. Patricia retired as Managing Director from Bear Stearns in NYC. Susan Carol Crawford married Bruce Harold Crawford and now lives in Englewood, FL. Susan retired as Marketing Coordinator for Coldwell Banker in Andover, MA. Anna’s son Dr. Peter Michael Ripley is now married to Judy Kostka and lives in Bourne, MA. Peter was the owner of The Yarmouth Medical Center on Cape Cod and is also retired.
Anna leaves behind five grandchildren. Susan has three children, Scott Ripley Crawford, Demorie Ann MacNeil, and Dianna Catherine Urbanucci. Peter has two sons by his first wife, Barbara Ann Mello, Brian Ripley and Steven Ripley. Peter also has two step children, Devin Kostka Mulcahy and Renee Kostka Mulcahy, from his second marriage to Judith Ann Kostka.
Anna also leaves behind five great grandchildren. Scott and his wife Rachel Ruth-Michel Crawford, have two children, Amélie Michel Crawford and Rosalyn Anna Crawford. Demorie and her husband, Michael Cameron MacNeil, have twin daughters, Abby Rose MacNeil and Emma Mary MacNeil. Dianna and her husband, Giovannipaolo Maria Urbanucci, have one child, Giovanni Crawford Urbanucci.
Anna was an amazing mother and person, just like her mother. Her mother and father were born to work hard. Polish immigrants, Michael Joseph Krysin was 25 and Mary Rose Karmelovicz was 16 when they left their families in Poland for a better life in the United States. Michael and Mary were introduced to each other by distant relatives in New York. They soon got married, found their way to Greenfield and started a family. Anna was the youngest of their three children. Anna’s two brothers were Bronek Michael Krysin who lived in Boston and passed in 1976, and Joseph Anthony Krysin of Greenfield who passed in 1996. 
Anna’s mother taught her to work hard because nothing in life was free, to study hard and save her money for college, to be kind, to thank God for what they had, to raise her children as good respectable people, and to instill in her family the importance of family, to stay close together, no matter how far away we lived.

Mom watched her parents eke out a living for the family of five, as they suffered through the Great Depression. Anna’s mother dreamed of a college education for all of her children. All three of her children were on their own to pay their way through college. Bronek, the oldest son, attended Northeastern University for three years before running out of money during the depression. Younger brother, Joseph, graduated from the University of Michigan. He worked at the Millers Falls Tool Company and later co-founded the Greenfield Steel Stamp Works which was located in the building that later became The Museum of Our Industrial Heritage in Greenfield, MA.  Anna, the youngest child, took the bus daily to Springfield, MA, where she graduated from Bay Path Secretarial School for Women. 
Mom met Dad working in Shick’s Garage on Main Street in Greenfield in the 1940s. After being set up on a double date Anna and Rip immediately clicked, from then on they were a  couple. They were married on June 2, 1942.  Mom and Dad both worked multiple jobs to save for buying a new house.
In 1950, Anna and Rip were looking for a lot to build on near Greenfield center. Smith Street was a new street under construction. Young couples with babies and young children were moving into the neighborhood fast. Realizing it was the perfect street to live on, Anna and Rip purchased a lot in the center of the long street. After a few years Smith Street was full of new families of nearly all the same age. Pat, Susan and Peter were three of the thirty children who lived and played together on Smith Street. 
Anna was one of the few mothers on Smith Street who went to work. Her employment over the years included Shick’s Garage, the MIller’s Falls Tool Company, the Greenfield Tap and Die and the J. H. Smith Company. After 20 years at the J. H. Smith Company Anna retired as Office Manager in 1984 to spend more time with her grandchildren.
Anna was a loving mother, a hardworking, kind woman of moral character and exceptional common sense. She tended a very large garden, canned quantities of vegetables and fruit for the winter. She made homemade soap, braided all of our rugs, sewed clothes for us daughters, kept a sparkling clean house, raised three children, and worked out of the house all at the same time! 
When we were young, mom would read to us nightly, starch and iron our school and church clothes, sew outfits for Pat and Susan and their dolls. Mom loved to cook hot dogs over the fire in the brick fireplace that she built by herself in the backyard. We would sit around it toasting marshmallows, watch the sunset, wait for the lightning bugs to come out, and listen for the nine o’clock horn from the Fire Station that told us it was time for bed.
As parents, Mom and Dad brought us up with an appreciation of the out-of-doors. They took us camping, on picnics, on long bicycle rides and hikes, snowshoeing, skiing, swimming and playing tennis. We were taught that family fun did not have to be expensive. We always celebrated family events together with our extended families. Our parents taught us that a close family was the key to a happy life. 
Several years after Rip died Anna became a constant companion of Phil Bitters, a man who she had worked with at the Greenfield Tap & Die many years earlier. They enjoyed attending everything from lectures to pot luck diners together, until Phil’s death in 2011. Mom continued to stay in contact with Phil’s sons Fred and Tom and his daughter Robin and her husband David Timmons.
As Mom aged and the years passed Anna became known as the ‘Patriarch of Smith Street’ by her neighbors. She was very proud that she was still able to read, walk without help, cook for herself, swing on her patio glider, enjoy her yard and garden, and continue to drive her car in town until she reached her mid 90s. Anna continued to manage her life alone until 2020 when she finally gave up and said goodbye to her home on 61 Smith Street at the age of 99.  
Anna moved to Bourne, Mass. to live in the home of her eldest daughter, Patricia, and her husband, Jim. Their days were scheduled around Anna and her needs. Anna always came first. Her son, Doctor Peter, and his wife, Judy, also lived in Bourne. Many a day they were at Pat and Jim’s house to check on Mom and visit with her. Mom couldn’t have had better care anywhere than what she had received from Pat, Jim, Peter and Judy. Mom was lovingly cared for until her death at the age of 101.
As we grew older Mom was always there for us when we needed help, support, or advice on any number of things, including our personal crises. We will all be forever grateful and appreciative for our amazing upbringing by our wonderful loving mother and father.  Mom was our rock for so many years, she will leave a hole in our hearts for the rest of our lives.  God Bless you, Mom, we are all going to miss you!
Funeral services will be private.  Burial will be held at the convenience of the family.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Kostanski Funeral Home.  For condolences, please visit www.kostanskifuneralhome.com. 

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