ANNA PITELA BROCKETT
BROCKETT, Ann Pitela, ( Anna ), died peacefully after a decade-long struggle with vascular dementia on November 26, 2018. She was a resident of Bethesda, Maryland for over fifty years before moving to Riderwood Village in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2005.
Ann was born in Easton, PA, of Ukrainian parents. She was a first generation American, as are her sister Helen and brother Stephen. She grew up in Easton, PA, where she met her husband, Buzz ( HR ) Brockett. He had enlisted in the US Army in Nebraska during World War II, and was sent to Lafayette College in Easton to study Electrical Engineering. He was transferred to West Virginia University for continuing studies and had orders to go to Japan when he finished his degree. The war ended, and he was honorably discharged.
He returned to Easton, PA, to finish his education at Lafayette College. Ann and Buzz were married in 1946. They lived in her parents’ attic while he was finishing college as apartments were hard to find.
Ann and Buzz moved to Hampton, VA, where he got his first job working at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which became the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) after the launch of the satellite Sputnik. They bought their first home in Hampton, VA, where they had their first two children, son Lee, and daughter Connie. Ann was pregnant with their second son Steve when Buzz was transferred to NASA headquarters in Washington, DC. Buzz was the Deputy Director of the Office of Tracking and Data Acquisition at NASA.
Ann liked to think that their family helped put the men on the moon because of Buzz’s efforts, and all the traveling he did, working with foreign governments where NASA wanted to put tracking stations. As a result, he often traveled to Australia, Spain, and several countries in Africa and South America.
Ann was a stay-at-home mother until her children were in high school. Then she held part-time jobs in a bookstore, Lord & Taylor, Donnelly Directory (The Yellow Page), and the consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton.
Ann felt the need of religious training for her children, so she joined the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church (CLUUC) where she enjoyed many volunteer activities. She helped with administration on Sundays in the Religious Education program for several years, and taught for three. She was a secretary in the Membership Committee for several years, and was on the Committee on Aging. Ann spent two decades involved in administrating the NSO Concert Series for Seniors. She was also one of the original members of the Planned Giving Committee when it started in 1987, which helped fund the Endowment Fund for CLUUC. She was a “greeter,” and also “ushered” for several years. She also acted as a volunteer receptionist to answer phones in the office to reduce the load on the staff.
Ann took advantage of the many Adult Programs available at CLUUC. She regularly attended the Science and Religion Discussion Group. She joined a dinner discussion group after her husband died in 1980, and was a member of it for over twenty years. She especially enjoyed knowing the many friends that she made at CLUUC throughout the years.
She is survived by son Lee Brockett of Gaithersburg, MD, daughter Constance Brockett Murray and husband Patrick Murray of Spokane, WA, son Steven Brockett of Alexandria, VA; sister Helen LaFever of Lehighton, PA, brother Stephen Pitela of Vass, NC and Old Forge, NY; four grandchildren, Robert Brockett, wife Katie, and their son Emmett of New Market, MD, Kevin and Charlotte Murray of Spokane, WA; niece Jill Moulthrope and husband Mark of Lehighton, PA, and Jill’s two children, Lori and Julie and their families of Easton, PA.
A memorial service for Ann will be on January, 7th, 2019, at 11 am at the Chapel at Riderwood Village, 3140 Gracefield Road, Silver Spring, MD 20904. Her cremains will be buried next to Buzz at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Aspen Hill, Maryland.
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