Anne Armistead Williams Lind, 93, widow of Alexander Udny Lind, died January 17, 2010 at Point o' View, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, her home on the shores of Lake Ontario for almost 60 years.

Born August 12, 1916 in Richmond, Virginia, where her father was an investment banker, she was the youngest of nine children born to Langbourne Meade Williams and Susanne Catherine Nölting Williams. Her family doted on her. Family diaries are full of "baby Annie's funny antics", and early photos show her always being held by an older sibling. She recently said, "I know you're supposed to have a purpose in life and I've searched for mine and I think it was just to make people laugh."

Her life spanned a turbulent and fascinating century. She remembered traveling by horse and buggy, life without electricity, telephones or cars, and she was at Cape Canaveral when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after lift-off. She tried computers but believed that ESP was vastly superior.

As a teenager, during the Great Depression, she organized and operated a summer camp at "Rokeby", the family farm in King George County, Virginia and, after graduating from The Collegiate School in Richmond, she attended Bennington College, in Vermont, where she studied sculpture. She took a trip abroad in 1937 to visit the World Fair in Paris and – in a full skirt - parachuted off their Eiffel Tower on a dare. She landed, she says, with her skirt over her head "in a sandbox", surrounded by astonished (and appreciative) Spanish soldiers who gave her a round of applause. A talented artist and writer, she moved, in 1939, to New York City as an advertising copy-writer for Macy's. When America entered the war, she jumped at the chance to go overseas with the American Red Cross. She packed a hot water bottle, fur coat and high heels.

In 1942 she was stationed in England, with the famed USAF 4th Fighter Group, and later at Eynsham Hall. This is where American pilots were sent for rest and recuperation. Naturally, she was put in charge of entertainment.

An engaging raconteur, she had a talent for putting herself in the right place at the right time – like the time she invited pilots to have tea with Professor Harold Laski at his nearby country home or "bumped into" Field Marshall Montgomery at Claridges; or met Noel Coward at a pub, or greeted General Dwight Eisenhower and Bob Hope at the airbase; or spoke with General Jimmy Doolittle in Singapore - and she made the most of it with her insatiable curiosity. She didn't just talk with people – she "interviewed" them. She wanted to know every fascinating detail, which she stored in her prodigious memory. People basked in her spotlight and responded.

During the war, she met and married Alexander Udny Lind in 1944. He was a dashing Royal Navy Lieutenant who had escaped the Japanese in an epic event, following the fall of Singapore. Despite the rationing, she managed to find a long white dress. With it, she wore her tennis shoes ("Why not? They were white, weren't they?!") . Prophetically, their "cake-topper" was a battleship.

When the war ended, they returned to the Far East, living first in Hong Kong and later in Singapore. She raised her first three children there.

In 1952 they moved to Canada, where she had two more sons. They bought a rambling old house with a verandah overlooking Lake Ontario, which she loved. It was – like her – expansive and inclusive. She began the habit of holding an annual Christmas Eve carol-singing party, (with flaming raisins) open to all ages, which became legend and continued for more than 30 years. She began fermenting her eggnog in October.

She was active in community and civic affairs - an early supporter of the Canadian Peace Research Institute, the Stratford Festival Theatre, and served on the board of Miss Lightbourn's School, helping to facilitate the merger with St. Mildred's. A devoted member of St. Jude's Anglican Church for more than a half century, she was active in all of the church's programs from teaching Sunday School to hospital visitation. She often made her home a haven for church-sponsored refugees and on many occasions provided temporary lodging until permanent arrangements could be made. In her last years, she rarely missed her regular weekly bible study classes and had a bridge game scheduled the week she died
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An ardent supporter of the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, she served as a volunteer well into her eighties. She was an avid tennis player and member of the Oakville Club (after winning a cup at the age of 80 she decided to quit while she was ahead). She ate cantaloupe every day of her life.

Her family was steeped in politics (two cousins were U.S. Ambassadors; her brother was in charge of the Marshall Plan for Europe). Always fascinated by politics and current events, she was forced to give up her American citizenship in 1967 in order to vote for Pierre Trudeau. However, she remained a Southerner to the end: one sign on her back door said, "Y'all spoken here!" and the other said, "Forget the Dog, Beware of the Owner!"

She is survived by her daughter, Plum Lind Johnson of Toronto, and three sons: Robin Lind, of Manakin-Sabot, USA, Christopher Lind, and Victor Lind, both of Toronto; also nine grandchildren: Virginia Johnson, Jessica Johnson, Carter Johnson; Francis Abralind, Maria Lind Tribble; Emily Lind, Aaron Lind; Hannah Lind and Nicholas Lind; three great-grandchildren: Thatcher Tribble, Lochlan Tribble; Benjamin Johnson Trochatos; and a host of nieces and nephews. For many years she was devotedly cared for by Pelmo and Tashi Tuedul and Wosal Adaytsang.

She was predeceased by her husband Alex, (1915-2007), retired President of The New Zealand Insurance Company (Canada) and son, Alexander (Sandy) Williams Lind, (1948-1991) a retired banker with the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank and the Saudi Investment Banking Corporation.