Obituary: Ann Dixon Repetti, Sept. 19, 1929 – Oct. 21, 2018
Ann Dixon Repetti died on Oct. 21, 2018, in Houston, Texas, where she had lived for the past five years. Ann was born in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 19, 1929, the second child of John Leopold Dixon and Phyllis Fleming Hughes Dixon. Her family’s ancestors were among the first free settlers in Australia emigrating from England and Scotland by way of Tasmania in 1831.
Young Ann’s idyllic childhood in Sydney, attending the Ascham School was interrupted when Ann was 12 years old and witnessed the Japanese midget submarines attack her country from Sydney Harbor. Ann and her sister were sent away from the coast, inland to Mittegong, New South Wales, and Frensham Ladies College from which she graduated.
Ann was visiting America in 1949 with her parents when she met the love of her life, George Martens Repetti. It was love at first sight; they became engaged and were married in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1950. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, they returned to Colorado Springs where George was a banker. Very shortly however their lives changed. After six years of military service in World War II, George was recalled to active duty. After several months training at Fort Hood, Texas, and having baby Ann; George was deployed to the Korean War in December 1951. Ann and her new baby returned to Australia while George was away. They were reunited in Colorado in June 1952.
Ann and George raised their family while living in Colorado Springs. Upon George’s untimely passing in 1982, Ann began spending more time in Vail, Colorado, where she and George had a second residence since 1964. Ann was a terrific skier and to her astonishment and delight was hired by Vail Associates to be a ski instructor. Ann enjoyed a 30-year career teaching skiing for Vail Resorts, making lifelong friends with many of her clients and co-workers. In the Vail summers, Ann took pleasure tending her own beautiful garden, volunteering as a docent at Betty Ford Alpine Garden, enjoying the Vail summer concerts and traveling with and visiting her daughters. Ann’s years in Vail were further enriched by her wonderful faith community, the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration. In Vail, Ann had a wonderful, friend filled, happy life. Ann moved to Houston in November 2013 for health reasons and to be closer to her daughter, Susan.
Ann was preceded in death by her beloved husband, her parents and her sister Judith Chipen. She is survived by her three daughters and their husbands, Ann and Russell Roy, of Paso Robles, California; Susan and Pat Rutherford, of Houston, Texas; and Elizabeth Repetti and Walter Pitt, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Ann is also survived by four grandchildren; George Roy, Suzanne Roy, William Pitt and Dixon Pitt.
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Ann’s remains will be interred at the Chapel of our Savior Columbarium in Colorado Springs.