Ann Virginia Porter, who was a social worker at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City before retiring to Wainscott, died on March 4 at home there. She was 97 and had cancer.
Ms. Porter, who was known as Annie, had lived on Hedges Lane in Wainscott for 50 years. She “loved the great outdoors and traveling to exotic locales around the globe,” her friends wrote. “One of her favorite pastimes was trail hiking and she was known to traverse the numerous local trails on the East End,” sometimes accompanied by a foster dog from the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, where she was a volunteer.
She was born in Fulton County, Ga., on July 20, 1925, to William Oscar Porter and the former Frances Burton. She grew up in Atlanta, New York City, and Wainscott.
Ms. Porter earned a degree in social work from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1958 and a decade later received a social work certificate from the State University of New York. “She mainly enjoyed working with inner-city children and spent time volunteering in youth programs” while living in Upper Manhattan’s Hamilton Heights neighborhood. She moved to Wainscott full time after her retirement in 1974.
She was a “voracious reader and coveted her impressive in-home personal library, where she read and reread hundreds of volumes of classic literature and history books acquired over her long lifetime,” her friends wrote. A regular at the East Hampton Town Senior Citizens Center, she enjoyed playing bridge. She also collected classical music recordings and fostered many animals for ARF.
“Annie will be missed by her many neighbors on Hedges Lane,” her friends said.
They suggested donations to ARF, online at arfhamptons.org, or to East Hampton Meals on Wheels at ehmealsonwheels.org or 33 Newtown Lane, Suite 205, East Hampton 11937.
