Anne Sweidel

OBITUARY
Anne Sweidel, exceptional mother, adored and adoring grandmother, and beloved friend, died peacefully at home in Atlanta on August 27, 2026, at the age of 86, following a prolonged illness.

The only child of Florence and Naysh Schweidel, Anne was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania and moved to Far Rockaway, Queens, New York when she was beginning high school. She graduated from Far Rockaway High School and SUNY Cortland. After marrying, Anne moved to Chicago where she first worked as a teacher and earned her master’s degree at Roosevelt University.

After formative years in Brooklyn, where her first daughter was born, Baltimore, where her second daughter was born, and Cherry Hill, NJ, the family settled in Atlanta, and Anne began a loved career teaching 9- and 10-year-olds at The Galloway School. Over 23 years, she earned a reputation for fairness, charisma, creativity, and resolve, not to mention as a dedicated runner who could be seen almost every weekday jogging around Chastain Park with one or more of her colleagues after school. The Galloway School holds a significant place in Anne’s life where she met many of her oldest and dearest friends.

After retiring from Galloway in 1999, Anne bravely set out on a new chapter, relocating to her treasured summer home on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Her 19 years there were among the happiest of her life. She delighted in the island’s natural beauty, often calling or texting a daughter or friend simply to share something beautiful she had seen that day.

Anne immersed herself in Nantucket life. She volunteered teaching English to immigrants and at A Safe Place, a domestic violence center. She played bridge, participated in book clubs, supported the arts, attended lectures, explored the island on her daily walks, and became a devoted student of its history. She first volunteered and later worked at the Nantucket Historical Association as an interpreter at the Whaling Museum and a guide of the island’s historic streets and sites.

Anne returned to Atlanta at the end of 2018 and resided at The Renaissance on Peachtree for the last seven years of her life. True to form, she quickly became part of the community, forming friendships with residents and staff and continuing to engage fully in the life around her.

Anne was ahead of her time in her authenticity, humor, spunk, and independence. She was a lifelong and outspoken liberal. She was a superfan of Obama, Jane Fonda, and Lin Manuel-Miranda. She loved M&M’s, the beach at 4pm, New York City, the New York Times, and MSNBC.

Anne is survived by her daughter Stacy Toporoff of Atlanta; daughter and son-in-law Suzanne and Adam Carson of Charlotte; grandchildren, Abigayle, Ryan, and Gavin Carson; and a circle of yearslong and cherished friends.

A memorial gathering honoring Anne’s life will take place at a later date.

Contributions in Anne’s memory can be made to the Nantucket Historical Association, The Galloway School, or Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.