Emily Steiert

Emily “Ann” (Steiert) Draper

May 19, 1927- October 25, 2016

Ann was born Emily Ann Swann in Athens, Georgia, to Ernest C. and Sadie Lou (Brooks) Swann.  She married the love of her life Howard L. (Bud) Draper on September 25, 1944 in Clarke County Georgia.  They moved to Michigan, settling in Oscoda, where they raised four children- Mary, Howard  (Bud), Clifford, and David.  Bud, Sr. was taken much too soon in 1972 at the age of 49.

In 1977 she married William (Bill) Steiert in Oscoda, MI.  and they soon moved to Lake Wales, Florida, where they had many happy years until Bill passed away in 2007.  They made a dashing silver-haired couple, she all of 4’11” and he 6’4”.  They loved to dance and it was a pleasure to watch them glide on the floor.

Ann was an avid tennis player and continued to enjoy competition until she was in her late 70s. She was always good with a racket, putting it to other good uses like exterminating the bats that refused to leave the attic in the house on River Road.

Ann worked in the doctor’s office in Oscoda as a nurse’s aide, a job she thoroughly enjoyed.  Though not certified as an EMT, she often filled in, in that capacity, having been trained by Dr. Kutsche, whom she loved dearly. She also worked as a hostess, at the Lake Wales Country Club in Florida.

Ann prided herself on keeping an immaculate home, and joked that she wanted to be buried in her washing machine.  She often quoted the saying “You can live without faith, you can live without hope, but civilized man cannot live without soap”.  She would enlist her children in the housework with bribes of donuts at the Oscoda Bakery, or trips to the beach.

Feisty is a word that was often used to describe Ann.  She once broke her leg while trying to teach cub scouts to pole vault.  She shot a pheasant from inside the house once, deafening herself briefly.  When she was mad, you knew it from the vein that stuck out on her neck.

Having lost her mother, Sadie Lou Swann at a very young age, Ann worked hard to locate her long estranged father, E.C. Swann, and finally brought him to live in Oscoda, then moved him to Florida with them, where she cared for him until he died.

Her son David moved to Lake Wales to care for his mother and was at her side until she passed.

She is survived by all of her children, a multitude of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice, or We Elderly Care of Lake Wales, FL.

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, November 5, at 2 PM , at her home in Lake Wales.