Ann Marie Hassing

Ann Hassing of Rush City, Minnesota passed away peacefully on Monday, February 11, 2019 at The Estates of Rush City at the age of 51.

Ann Marie Hassing was born February 23, 1967 to Harold and Mary (Kennedy) Hassing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She had a rough start. At 2 days old she had surgery to splice her intestine into her stomach. For three weeks she was hospitalized and made a full recovery. Ann was also involved in a study of Down’s Syndrome children at the U of M and her mother took her there every day for a month. At the age of 2 ½, she started attending the Hennepin Day Activity Center. At five years old, she started school at Sheltering Arms and continued there until she was twelve. Ann then went to Emerson School, worked at the Opportunity Work Shop and attended classes at Roosevelt High School graduating at 21.

In her youth, Ann took swimming lessons and was a very good swimmer. She was involved in Special Olympics; competing in swimming, track, balance beam and floor exercise. In 1980, she went to Baton Rouge, LA for the International Special Olympics.

Ann received her First Holy Communion, was confirmed and Father Drummy even got her to be an altar server, which she really enjoyed! Ann loved the Minnesota Twins and went to a lot of games. She worked at several hotels with Rise of Spring Lake, MN. One in particular was the Marriot in downtown Minneapolis. Ann would take the bus downtown to work, by herself, which made her father very nervous.

Ann’s family had a lake home in Webster, WI where they would spend a lot of time snowmobiling in the winters and canoeing on the Namekagon River in the summers. Ann liked to hit the rapids on the river and get hung up on the rocks. Her dad had to get out and pull the canoe over, at which time she would paddle away and he would have to catch up to her. They saw a lot of wildlife, too.

After Ann’s mother passed away in 1992, they moved to Webster, WI. Ann then ended up in several foster homes which didn’t work out. She did not want to live in an apartment by herself, so her father became her guardian. Eventually, Ann moved to a group home back in Minnesota where she stayed for about 2 years. Then on her own, she found a house with 4 girls and 24 hour supervision. Ann then connected again with Rise and had many good jobs with them; one was with Minco where she punched out circuit boards for space crafts and airplanes.

She did a lot of traveling; going to Los Angles, to Louisiana and rode swamp buggies, Disney World a few times and to Las Vegas several times. Ann loved the casinos but never said how much she won or lost. There were also many trips to the North Shore in Minnesota.

In 2015, Ann started showing signs of Alzheimer’s. In December of 2017, she went into a nursing home in Stillwater, MN and was transferred to Rush City, MN where they have a secure unit for Alzheimer patients. They took very good care of her. She was always happy and was everyone’s friend. Ann was a warm, loving person and LOVED to give hugs!

Ann is survived by her father Harold and step-mother Belle Hassing; step-brother Rick Davis (Tammy Bergum); step-sisters Chris (Mike) Stone, Linda (Dee) Burns all of Hayward, WI and Teri (Chris) Downing of Grand Marais, MN; aunt Mary (Jerry) Misemer of Prescott, AZ; many loving cousins, nieces, nephews and her very special friends Ron and Judy Fisher.

She is preceded in death by mother Mary; uncle Bill; and grandparents.

Father Gerard Willger will celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial for Ann: 12 PM; Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Hayward, WI. A time for family and friends to gather is planned for one hour prior to the service at the church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of North Branch, MN or Rise of Spring Lake, MN or Achieve of Blaine, MN.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the: Funeral and Cremation Service of Rush City ~ Olson Chapel www.FuneralAndCremationService.com