Anne Wasterlain
On Nov. 5, Anne (Thomsin) Wasterlain, 89, of Guilford, formerly of Granada Hills, California, passed away surrounded by her loving family.
Anne was the wife of Claude Wasterlain. She was born in Angleur, Belgium, on June 8, 1934, daughter of the late Raymond Thomsin and Louise (Kinable) Thomsin and sister of the late Georges Thomsin. She was the loving mother of Jean Michel “Mitch” Wasterlain of Guilford, grandmother of Amy Wasterlain and Caroline Wasterlain, and great-grandmother of Hudson Flowers, Vera Flowers, and Sebastian Hulbert.
Anne was born near Liege, in the French-speaking Walloon part of Belgium. She was a child during World War II and lost her beloved mother during the war. She went on to pursue studies in Social Work and received a degree from the Liege School of Social Work. She worked with local coal mining families, where diseases such as black lung and tuberculosis were prevalent. She herself contracted tuberculosis as a result and overcame it after a difficult battle. Anne met her husband Claude at a student dance at the University of Liege, where he was a medical student. Following their marriage and the birth of their son Jean-Michel, they moved to Middletown in 1961, where Claude did a medical internship, then relocated to New York City for his residency. In 1975, Anne and Claude moved to Granada Hills, California, where they spent the next 46 years. During that time, Anne worked as a travel agent and volunteered for Recordings for the Blind and other charities. In 2021, they moved to Guilford to be close to their son and his wife, Patricia Lee Wasterlain, and their granddaughters and great-grandchildren. Unfortunately, in her last few years, she had to fight Alzheimer’s Disease.
Anne was an incredibly kind and generous soul and a devoted mother and wife who loved spending time with her family. She was also a very creative chef who passed a love of cooking down to her son and a talented seamstress who made many of her own clothes. In addition to caring for her beloved cats, she enjoyed the theater, jazz, traveling, skiing, and tennis. She gave freely of herself, was the glue that united her family, and was an unforgettable friend to all those whose lives she touched. She gave without expectations and loved without limits. She made life richer for all who knew her.
Friends were invited to visitation hours on Nov. 11 at the Guilford Funeral Home, 115 Church Street, Guilford, followed by a memorial service. Burial services will be held in Alder Brook Cemetery, Guilford. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association. To share a memory or leave condolences, visit the Guilford Funeral Home obituaries website.