AUBURN – Ann Marie Barbour Parks, 70, passed away peacefully among her family relatives at the Hospice House in Auburn on Saturday, March 7. She succumbed after a long battle with PSP (progressive supra-nuclear palsy), for which there is no cure.

Ann was born in Boston and grew up in Holbrook, Mass. After high school, she attended Rhode Island School of Design and graduated in 1961 with a degree in graphic design.

She married Lee Parks of Braintree and the couple moved to Cambridge while Ann began design work for a studio in Boston. Their children, Bryan and Courtney, were born and in 1970 they moved to Lexington. Ann opened her own studio after leaving Boston and began working with Harvard University, Radcliff College, Simmons College and designed numerous logos for companies such as Skyr, the Port Authority of Boston and Schraffts Candy.

In 1972, Ann began work for Phillips Academy at Andover as a consultant and a year later became director of design and communications services for the school. Ann and her group received many design awards and accolades over the years.

In 1992, Ann left Andover and formed Ann Parks Communications Design and continued working with colleges, universities and corporations. In 1997, she accepted the position of manager of design services at Bates College and she and her husband moved to Maine and located in Auburn. She retired from Bates in 2001. They built a home at Highland Green in Topsham and moved there in 2003.

Ann continued to make Nantucket baskets as a hobby until her illness prevented her from doing so.

She is survived by her husband, Lee; her son Bryan; daughter, Courtney; and her sister Sally, who lives in Georgia.


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