Anne Roberts was born on March 21, 1932, in Buffalo, NY, the daughter of Clifford Evans Roberts and Olive Thompson Roberts. Soon after, the family moved back to Maryland where they built a home on a 50-acre farm and were members of Little Falls Monthly Meeting in Fallston, Maryland. Anne loved her life on the farm, especially riding horses. She was home schooled through elementary school and attended Bel Air High School where she worked in the library and was able to take out as many books as she wanted.
At age 16, Anne graduated from Bel Air in 1948 and entered college at the New Jersey College for Women which was affiliated with the all-male Rutgers University. Anne and three other women ended up taking all of their courses at Rutgers. Preparing for graduation, they petitioned the Dean of the university to become the first female graduates of Rutgers instead of the Women’s College. In 1952, with her Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture, Anne planned to come home and run the farm. But life had other plans for Anne. She became a flight attendant for American Airlines for two years before working in the AA offices in Maryland.
Anne met William St. Germain because he, like she and her father, worked in the airplane industry. They were engaged on New Year’s Eve 1955. Bill worked for Boeing and the day after their wedding on February 25, 1956, they left for the Pacific Northwest. They lived in Bellevue, WA where their family grew to include four children: Molly, Will, Adam, and David. Anne transferred her membership in the Religious Society of Friends from Little Falls Monthly Meeting (MD) to Eastside Monthly Meeting (Bellevue, WA) in 1960.
For a short time, Bill’s employment took him to Uxbridge, MA, but by 1973 they were back in the Seattle area, settling in Redmond on Novelty Hill Road. In 1985 Anne and Bill traveled to New Zealand for a year-long adventure as caretakers for the Quaker Meeting House in Auckland. In 1998, Anne purchased McDonald’s Book Exchange in Redmond, and it was a hub of community activity until 2022. She was an active member of the Redmond community devoting much of her time to the bookstore and also the Nokomis /Club, Friends of the Library, Hopelink, and the Redmond Historical Society. She was also very active in Eastside Friends Meeting, serving on the committee that oversaw the building of the Meetinghouse and eventually on all of the committees that kept Eastside running over the years. She established an EFM scholarship fund in memory of her son Adam who was killed at age 20 in1982. The Adam St. Germain fund has helped several young Quakers travel on service trips.
Anne was dedicated to helping others, always volunteering to help those in need, giving a helping hand or food or whatever token she could to show that person that someone did care about them. When EFM provided meals for the homeless, Anne brought ice cream, a rare treat at the encampments. Her friend, Doris Townsend (Friends of the Redmond Library and Redmond Historical Society Lifetime Member) said what so many of knew, “Anne was a legend in the Redmond community for her book- store, her political activism, and her calm and dedication to solving problems. She modeled for others the way to advocate for people, causes, and institutions with dignity and kindness.” Eastside Friends remember her immediate offers of practical help whenever and wherever needed, her genuine interest in people, her absolutely no-nonsense approach to any issue great or small, and her wonderful laugh.
Anne St. Germain died quietly and peacefully in her home on November 25, 2023. Her husband Bill St. Germain preceded her in death in 2006, and another son, David, died in 2019. Her brother, Evans Roberts, died in 2022. Anne is survived by her daughter Molly Peterson, her son Will St. Germain, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.