“She Hated Men With a Passion!”
Anna Andziulewicz was born on December 26, 1906 in Pennsylvania to Polish immigrants, but later changed her name to Ann Andy. She was one of six children, including two sets of twins, of which Ann was one. At age three, however, Ann’s twin died, possibly of the flu epidemic. Then when Ann was six, her mother also died, leaving her father distraught and unable to care for the five remaining children. His sister came to live with them for a while, but she eventually had to return to her own family, leaving the father again confused and grieving.
Not knowing what to do, Ann’s father turned to his parish priest, who in turn advised him to put the children in an orphanage. This was quite common in the early part of the last century. Many children in orphanages actually had living parents who for one reason or another couldn’t care for their children and so sent them away. Ann and her sisters were separated from her brothers and placed in two different facilities. Ann’s father visited often, but he, too, died young, making them truly orphans in more than name.
When Ann turned sixteen, the nuns at the orphanage sent Ann to St. Mary of Nazareth School of Nursing in Chicago. Ann did well there and made many friends and eventually became a nurse. She had learned how to do fancy embroidery work at the orphanage and continued to do it as a hobby even after she left. She enjoyed it so much that she formed a sewing circle with some of the other nursing students at St. Mary, and it was at about this time that she met her life-long friend, Alice Stanislaw.
Ann was apparently a very independent, tough, private person, perhaps because she needed to be to survive all those years in the orphanage. Though very cognizant, intelligent and able to express herself, Ann refused to give any information for this interview. All of the information has been supplied by Alice’s daughter, Margaret, who grew up calling Ann her aunt.
Margaret reports that Ann never married and, indeed, “hated men with a passion.” She thinks perhaps it has something to do with an incident that occurred at the orphanage when Ann was very young. Apparently, Ann’s sister was raped by a priest in the orphanage and later suffered a mental breakdown because of it. She was sent away to a mental institution, and Ann never saw her again. Her little brother was also later killed in a farm brawl somewhere in Nebraska, which Ann never understood, as he was a very timid, gentle soul. Both of these things affected her very deeply, and she was never able to really forgive. Margaret says that though Ann was kind and loving to those in her immediate circle, she was at the same time very particular and stubborn. Margaret says that her mother often tried to ease some of the bitterness Ann harbored, but it was difficult.
Ann traded in a husband and children for a career as a private duty nurse and travel. She traveled the whole world and spent some of her winters in Florida where she enjoyed walking on the beach and talking to local fishermen. She never had any hobbies besides sewing and did not belong to any church, saying that she did not believe in organized religion.
She was admitted to the nursing home after surgery for a colostomy and remains extremely depressed, saying she only wants to die. “My life is over. Look at me,” she says to staff. She refuses to get involved in the activities at the home and even to get out of bed some days. Despite the success she made of her life in many ways, she has never been able to escape the pain and bitterness of her early days.
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