Ann A. (Hulse) Culligan, a lifelong resident of Monticello, NY, passed away at home surrounded by her family on June 12, 2023. Ann was born on December 20,1931, the first child of George A. Hulse and Elizabeth J. (Geiselhart) Hulse.

Ann grew up at Camp Roosevelt on Sackett Lake near Monticello, New York, where she enjoyed horseback riding, ice skating, dogs and the company of many other animals. She graduated from Monticello High School in 1949, where she was a member of the cheerleading team. Ann married her high school sweetheart James R. Culligan on April18,1952, while Jim was serving in the U.S. Army.

Ann began her working career at Hammond & Cooke, a clothing store on Broadway in Monticello, and then worked for several years as a Nurse’s Aide at the Hamilton Avenue Hospital. After the birth of her three children, Ann returned to work at Dick VanEtten’s Traveler’s Insurance Agency in Monticello for many years before rejoining the medical field, working with Dr. Tadas Savickas in his private practice until they retired in the 1970s.

Ann was an excellent cook and baker like her mother before her, and she was an expert seamstress, making clothing for her family for many years. She learned how to knit and created sweaters, mittens, scarves, hats and blankets that have been passed down through generations over the years. Ann was an avid collector of antiques and enjoyed attending area auctions, especially those of auctioneer Ward Burlingame of Callicoon. She learned how to restore furniture, cane the seats of chairs, and to repair and reupholster chairs and organ benches. She assisted with the painting and repair of clock faces and the restoration of many pump organs that Ann and her husband Jim brought back to life. She loved to collect flo blue and delft dishes, bowls, pitchers and other pottery that she added to her collection of lamps, pewter, furniture and many other pieces of glassware to make a beautiful home for her family. Ann spent several years as an active member of the Monticello Women’s Club and played a key role in organizing and coordinating the Club’s Annual Summer Antique Show that raised money for local scholarships.

Ann’s love of animals, especially dogs, enriched her life and the lives of the members of her family. She brought home many stray and shelter dogs, each of which quickly became very special members of her family, a practice and way of life that she instilled in her children and grandchildren. She loved and respected the wildlife near her home and spent many hours creating beautiful flower gardens and spaces where nature, beauty and peace thrived.

Ann was a courageous, determined, independent person -- a pillar of strength in the face of adversity. She said and did what she thought was right, all of the time, every time. She was the force behind her husband Jim and set the boundaries and rules for the family from which all of them grew. Ann loved music of all kinds, from classical music to Perry Como, John Denver and Johnny Mathis. She enjoyed Broadway shows and was able to travel with Jim to Ireland, Austria, Germany, France, Wales and England, all of which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Ann remained active in the Monticello area while she and Jim were raising their children. She learned how to ski downhill and cross country, and loved to fish on Pleasure Lake in Fallsburg, NY and on Lake Joseph in Forestburgh, NY.

Ann served on the Hospice of Orange & Sullivan 5K Run Committee and as a volunteer to help coordinate and conduct auctions for the Methodist Church of Rock Hill, and the Presbyterian, Methodist and Episcopal Church and John Crawford Pulitzer Library auctions in Monticello. She was a Court Appointed Special Advocate for young people and was a vital member of the committee for the construction of the Monticello High School Athletic Fields. Ann and her husband Jim served as Trustees of the William and May D. Norris Foundation Trust from 1990 to 2021, a charitable foundation that provides an annual college scholarship to a deserving senior at Monticello High School. The Foundation also makes yearly donations to a number of organizations, including CARES USA, the American Cancer Society, The American Heart Association, Sullivan County Community College and the Monticello Episcopal Church. Most importantly, Ann and her husband Jim and their great friend Richie Chiger of Monticello were instrumental in the development and August 2016 passage of “Dean’s Law”, a statute enacted by the Sullivan County Legislature creating the Animal Abuser Registry to address animal abuse by hindering further adoptions of animals by people deemed abusive.

Ann was predeceased by her parents, her younger brother Terry Hulse and daughter-in-law Nancy (Segal) Culligan, and most recently by her husband Jim in December of 2022.

Ann is survived by her three children, Kevin J. Culligan (Nancy) of Cortlandt Manor, NY, Kim E. Culligan (Vivien Loughran) of Poughkeepsie, NY, and Kelly A. Ketcham (Gerald Ketcham, Jr.) of Monticello, NY, and by her best friend Richie, her latest loyal and loving rescue dog. She leaves behind five grandchildren, Ryan J. Culligan (Seanna Walsh), Katherine L. Culligan, Casey A. Culligan (Matthew F. Benoit), Tyler G. Ketcham (Catherine Poli) and Christopher J. Ketcham (Brianna Safko), eight great-grandchildren, William Walsh Culligan, Connor, Nolan, Cody, Abigail and Mackenzie Ketcham, a foster great-grandson named King and Nora Nancy James Culligan. She is also survived by her sister, Coralie Coney of Smallwood, NY, her sisters-in-law, Linda Hulse and Evelyn Culligan of Monticello, NY, and by many nieces and nephews.

Ann’s family would like to thank Kimnova White and Denise Thompson-Pierre for their expert and loving care of Ann during the last several years of her long and happy life. We will always be grateful for what they did for our parents and for us with patience, energy, expertise and compassion. The family also wants to offer special thanks to Brandy Keller and Christina Carmody of Hospice of Orange & Sullivan and to Dr. Imran Ahmed.

All are invited to attend a memorial celebration of the lives of Ann and Jim (who died December 28, 2022) that will be held on Saturday, July 29, beginning at 11:30 am in The Michael Ritchie Big Barn at The Center for Discovery, 54 Discovery Ridge Road, Hurleyville, NY 12747 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Michael+Ritchie+Big+Barn+@+The+Center+for+Discovery/@41.743229,-74.679284,15z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x89dcb94f424aa11b:0xea753f0e1c5d3ed4!8m2!3d41.743229!4d-74.679284!16s%2Fg%2F1tnjkknz?entry=ttu)

Please join us for a buffet lunch at the Big Barn after friends and family share thoughts and memories about Jim and Ann.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to any of the following: Sullivan County SPCA, Middletown Humane Society, Best Friends Animal Society, The Center for Discovery, Hospice of Orange & Sullivan, or an Animal Rescue Charity of Your Choice.

Arrangements are under the direction of the VanInwegen-Kenny, Inc. Funeral Home of Monticello, NY; for additional information or to send an online condolence, please visit www.kennyfuneralhome.com (Jim Culligan’s obituary can be found there as well.)