Anna Lee Browder

Anna Lee Browder died Noember 1, 2024, in the company of her three daughters.
Born July 8, 1936, she attended Radcliffe, graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A in History, and earned an M.S. in Education from Bank St. College of Education in New York City.
Anna was first and foremost a teacher. She taught at the Jewish Community Center Nursery School, Brown Play School, Providence Hebrew Day School, Temple Mount Sinai Nursery School, and grade-school science at the Lincoln School for many years, where she also organized summer camps joining science and art and worked at the after school program.
Anna was deeply involved in community work in a number of areas, particularly ecological. She led efforts to reduce invasive species and plant native plants and trees across Providence, working with groups such as the Southside Community Land Trust, Blackstone Parks Conservancy Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, Friends of Rochambeau Library. She published gardening articles in the Providence Journal, the New York Times, and the Providence Eye.
She also volunteered at Bradley Preschool, working with children with behavioral disorders and learning disabilities, volunteered at Rhode Island Legal Services, planning statewide workshops for The Law on Special Education of Handicapped Children, and served on the Hope High School Parents Advisory Council and Board of Directors of Lippett Hill Tutorial. She loved Providence and donated to many local charities.
Anna was a lifelong learner, interested in art, language, literature, natural history, and more, all the way to the end of her life. She was passionate about helping others, and helping the earth.
She is dearly missed by her siblings, Mary, Ronald, and Sabra Lee; her daughters, Sally, Laura, and Thea; four grandchildren, Nina, Grace, Leo, and Jamie; and nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and -nephews.
A memorial service will be held July 26 at Swan Point Cemetery, 12 p.m. in Providence, R.I.
Donate to one of Anna’s favorite causes:
Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council Southside Community Land Trust Blackstone Parks Conservancy