After a dynamic life characterized by enthusiasm and exploration, Anne Chapman Tullar died in her home on December 15, 2022, with her three children by her side. She is remembered for her dedication to family, friends, and faith. She nurtured thriving and devoted friendships in her years of living on both the east and west coasts, and in her final Rocky Mountain home in Montana’s Gallatin Valley.
Anne was born on April 25, 1943, an Easter Sunday, in Stamford, CT, to Frank Tomes Chapman and Dorothy Loretta (Junger) Chapman. The family was made complete when brother John was born in 1945. Their Stamford home was always filled with music and was often the gathering place for family and friends. Summers on the rugged coast of Maine were times of outdoor adventure and the inspiration for Anne’s inventive tales of magical creatures that lived in the sea. Musicality and imagination featured prominently throughout Anne’s life; many of her greatest joys came from her admiration for the artistic talents she recognized in others. She expressed her own creativity constantly: singing, dancing, and storytelling were instinctive forms of expression and communication. She was rarely without a project in process: knitting, photography, painting, journaling, collaging, gardening, cooking… she found beauty in all of it.
In 1969 Anne married the late Arthur E. Tullar, while working toward her degree in English at Central Connecticut College. They welcomed their first child, Tara, in 1970. The young family relocated to Santa Monica, CA, in 1971, where son Christopher (1973) and daughter Alice (1975) were born. Anne’s love of photography, influenced by her immersion in motherhood, led to a decades-long career as a freelance family photographer. She was particularly gifted at capturing candid images of children at play, in outdoor settings, using natural light. The Tullar family spent a year in Mammoth Lakes, CA, where the children learned to ski, before moving back to New England in 1981. Throughout the 1980’s Anne explored different interests and careers, always thinking first of her children and doing her best to ensure their wellbeing. She and Arthur separated in 1984 and she settled in Hanover, NH, where she would spend the next 33 years creating a life guided by her determination to find a balance between pursuing her passions and fulfilling her obligations.
In 1999 Anne started another independent business, “Administrative Services for Elders,” and built a word-of-mouth-based clientele. This work was deeply gratifying, and also reinforced her awareness that she would eventually need to leave the Connecticut River valley. Anne’s daughters had ended up back in California with spouses and children of their own, and her son had found his home and started his family in Montana. Regular reunions kept the family connections strong but were also fairly hectic and ended too soon. In 2017, shortly after the birth of her eighth grandchild, Anne moved to Bozeman. A mere two miles from Christopher and his family, she was finally close enough to be enmeshed in their daily lives to a degree she had always dreamed of with her daughters and her Californian grandchildren. In short order she found or formed new communities: church choir, knitting circle, book club, yoga classes, a hiking group… she even organized a gardening gang amongst her neighbors, who cultivated herbs, vegetables, and flowers (including a bountiful morning glory vine) on the patio beneath her apartment window.
Anne is survived by her daughters, Tara Tullar Dadd (Andrew Dadd) and Alice Tullar (Christ Aivaliotis); her son, Christopher Tullar (Ellyse); eight grandchildren, Lydia and Evan Dadd, Ava Tullar, Chickie and Mike Aivaliotis, George and Gary Dehn, and Dorothy Tullar; and her brother, John Chapman. The legacy she leaves is impossible to quantify; foremost is her devotion to family and friends. Anne exemplified countless other qualities that we will remember with joy: her knowledge of plants and gardening, her favorite songs (to sing and to dance to), her delight in particular flowers (lilies, paperwhites, pansies, and morning glories), her boundless creativity and artistry, her connection with nature, her practice of intentional gratitude, her commitment to health and fitness, her love of beaches and rainbows, her desire to find humor and laugh every day, her rich prayer life and belief in God, her sometimes unconventional life choices, and for the mistakes she made (which were some of her hardest but most valuable lessons).
A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at St. James Episcopal Church, 5 West Olive Street, Bozeman, MT 59715.
In her memory, Anne would be grateful if you would enjoy a day in a garden, explore an artistic impulse, initiate a dance party, or express your faith. She would encourage you to embrace every moment you are granted with the ones you love, and to look always forward to the next good thing.
In lieu of flowers, Anne requested donations to Upper Valley Haven (White River Junction, VT), The Feathered Pipe Scholarship Fund (Helena, MT), or to any local charity assisting families experiencing poverty in your community.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com [dokkennelson.com]
