Obituary for Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror for Anna Jane Krebs

Printed on Thursday, February 27, 2020

Anna Jane Krebs passed away on the morning of February 14, 2020 in her home in Pearland, TX.  Mrs. Krebs was a longtime resident of Nantucket (1977-2006) and more recently Florence, MA.  She was born in Frederick, MD on September 9, 1938.  Anna Jane was a member of the Frederick High School Class of 1956.  A 1960 graduate of Elmira College, she spent her junior year abroad at University of Swansea, Wales.  She earned her Master’s Degree in Education from American International College during her years on the island.

Anna Jane met her husband, artist S. Warren Krebs, while teaching English at Westtown School in Westtown, PA where they lived from 1960-1977 until moving to be year-round residents of Nantucket.  Mrs. Krebs taught predominantly eighth-grade English in the Nantucket Public School system from 1977 to 1998. Known for her extraordinary dedication to her students, her collaboration in the creation and introduction of the Nantucket Experience course where students actively engaged with the island and its residents, and her enthusiastic participation in yearly field trips to Sargent Camp in New Hamphire, Mrs. Krebs will no doubt be remembered for teaching two decades of eighth-grade Nantucketers how to punctuate their sentences. 

Following the death of her husband in 2005, Mrs. Krebs moved full-time to the home they had designed and built in Florence where she resided until the spring of 2019.   Known for her amazing energy, positivity, and generous spirit, Anna Jane was an avid knitter, gardener, and baker.  She is survived by her daughters Laura Krebs Hesse of Pearland, TX and Jenn Krebs Rapkin of Guilford, CT and their husbands John C. Hesse and Andrew B. Rapkin.  Anna Jane was a beloved grandmother of Michael Krebs Hesse, Lucy Rosa Rapkin, and Nathaniel Reuben Rapkin.  She is also survived by her brother R. Dean Stickell of Frederick, MD.