Anne S. Combs, age 90, formerly of Doylestown, PA died at Meadowview Nursing home in Berlin, PA on December 2nd, 2018 after a decline of health from Huntington’s Disease. She was born in Marinette, WI on September 4, 1928 to James and Jean (Miller) Spadea. She was predeceased by her husbands Enrico Tomaso, William Darrow, and Delbert Combs as well as her darling brother Stirling Spadea and her oldest son James Darrow.
She is survived by her adoring children Anne of Doylestown, PA; Enrico and wife Kathy of Upper Black Eddie, PA; Charles and wife Jane of Jersey Shore, PA; Allen and wife Jannie of Guthrie Center, IA; Richard and wife Ann of Schellsburg, PA; and Scott and wife Jody of Honey Grove, PA. She is also lovingly mourned by her niece Eden of Massachusetts, 17 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, and 2 great nephews. Anne loved her family, friends, and neighbors and will be missed by all that knew her.
To quote Annie, “I have had a fabulous life! Anne was raised in Manhattan, NY and Tinicum Twp. , PA.
She attended public school in New York City, finishing school at Ms. Hewitt School for Girls, and then attended the Art Students League of New York in Manhattan. After art school she was employed by various companies in the fashion world. Anne’s first job was being a stylist dressing models and matching their accessories.
She then worked for Charm magazine as a junior fashion editor. She worked for Fashion Telling magazine traveling to fashion shows in Europe reporting back the latest styles and trends. She visited Rome, Florence, Paris and Monaco amongst other cities for this job.
Later, her parents started “Spadea Patterns” where Anne worked designing and creating clothing patterns with the likes of Josette Walker, Vera Maxwell, Dinah Shore, and the Duchess of Windsor as well as various other people in the business. Anne always said her greatest accomplishments with the company were collaborating with the Duchess of Windsor on a series of chic designs and with Dinah Shore to develop an innovate and stylish three-day weekend wardrobe that became the company’s highest seller. After the birth of her fifth child, she decided to try her hand at sculpture.
This medium was what she became best known for as an artist. She sculpted dozens of busts of local children and families. Most notably busts of James A. Michener of Bucks Co., PA and William Lindsay White of Emporia, KS.
One of her greatest joys was sculpting all her grandchildren. Anne was a well-known painter and a renowned area artist with multiple shows at the Stover Mill Gallery and local arts festivals. Over the years she was a member of the Bucks Co. Council of the Arts and the Tinicum Art Festival where she dedicated hours “hanging art” and doing hundreds of “quickie” sketches for visitors.
She was also an accomplished muralist with a 15-foot aerial landscape on display in the Erwinna Firehouse as well as one in the Upper Black Eddy Firehouse and Tinicum Elementary. In the late 1980’s, Anne retired to Lake Nockamixon with the love of her life, Delbert Combs, where she continued her art and supported young aspiring artists. Above all Anne was a wonderful Mother, Mother-in-law, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother and her mantra was as the song goes “You’ve got to accentuate the positive, delete the negative”.
Anne will be laid to rest in a ceremony at Lower Tinicum Union Cemetery at Tinicum United Church of Christ in Pipersville, PA beside her late husband Delbert Combs, her mother, and brother. Details of her service and a memorial will be announced. Online condolences may be made at www.
geiselfuneral.com. Arrangements entrusted to Mickle-Geisel Funeral Home, Schellsburg.
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