Anne Buchman

Anne Dougherty Buchman of Canton, Ohio, passed away on Tuesday, May 5, at the age of 102. She was the beloved matriarch of her family, and an inspiration to many. She remained for most of her life in Canton, and was a bottomless source on Canton and family history and lore.

As a child during the Great Depression, Anne learned sewing, needlepoint, knitting, and quilting from her grandmother and mentor, Daisy Barr Johnston. She also gained a deep love of music and poetry from her, along with a love of opera from her father.

Throughout her life Anne was active, creative, and deeply engaged in cultural and community life. As a teen she worked as a lifeguard at Lake Cable. Along with her brothers, she learned to fly, passing her solo flight test after seven lessons.

In summer 1942, after graduating from Lehman High School, she worked as a rasper at the Old King Cole factory, shaping molds for bomber planes. Her contribution to the war effort was recognized in 2025 by a Congressional citation for Anne’s service as a ‘Rosie the Riveter.’ She completed a bachelor’s degree in English at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, then returned to work as a reporter for the Canton Repository, a job she dearly loved. After marrying in 1948, Anne and husband John moved to Detroit for two years, then returned to Canton, where John joined the Day, Ketterer law firm.

Anne then engaged with a wide range of community organizations, notably the Garden Club, Junior League, and Friends of the Stark County Library; she served as president of all these organizations. She designed the family home in Whipple Heights and filled it with family heirlooms and needlepoint, paintings, quilts, and Christmas ornaments, all made by her. A longtime subscriber and member of the Canton Symphony League, she passed her love of music to her family. She spent countless hours taking children to music lessons and rehearsals, sports practices, and speech tournaments; at Perry High School she was known as ‘the Green Bullet’ in her racing green Mustang II.

An accomplished athlete, Anne regularly played tennis well into her later years, and played for several years along with John in a volleyball league. Bridge was a major passion and organizing principle for much of her social life, playing several times a month.

Anne loved travel, planning numerous trips around the country, as well as tours and cruises abroad. She shared her enthusiasm for the history of the American colonial period and Revolution, taking the family to Williamsburg, Boston, and Cape Cod. Favorite international destinations included Paris, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, the Baltics, various other countries in Europe, Egypt, the west coast of South America, and China. In later years she enjoyed winter trips to Florida with bridge friends. At 90 she traveled to Hong Kong for a grandson’s wedding reception, shortly after a hip replacement. At 92 she accompanied one son on a cross-country road trip, helping him move from the East Coast to San Francisco.

Anne’s family is eternally grateful to Molly Lloyd Carlson, Anne’s neighbor and family friend, who looked after her and gave her companionship in her last decade, and whom Anne came to regard as another daughter.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Elizabeth Johnston Dougherty; her father, Frank H. Dougherty; her brothers, John and David Dougherty; and her husband, John F. Buchman III. She is survived by her four children: Elizabeth Weeks (Richard), John A. Buchman (Barbara), Heather Buchman, and William Buchman (Lee Lichamer); six grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.

Donations in Anne’s memory can be made to the Canton Symphony, ArtsinStark, and the Stark County Library.